Stargate International
by StoryPen
Summary: It's been five years after 'Unending'. Stargate Command has become the pinnacle of the galaxy, protecting as many worlds as it can. Now the Lucian Alliance stepped up against Earth for galactic domination. General Carter responds by forming new teams made up of personnel from other nations to combat them. The first of such teams, SG-26, leads the fight against the Alliance.
1. Breaching Trust

Disclaimer: Stargate SG-1, Atlantis, Universe and all other Stargate related names belong to MGM. The characters that I created however are mine. Anything or anyone that happens to exist in the real world is purely coincidental.

Author's Note: First things first: This is my first major multi-chapter story that I'm posting here on FanFiction that is based on Stargate SG-1. So if you see any errors, those are just rookie mistakes, so you'll have to forgive me on those.

Now on to brass tacks: In September of 2011, I was coming up with an idea for a Post-Series Stargate SG-1/Atlantis/Universe world and Stargate International was finally created. From the get go, I didn't want to make SG-1 the primary focus.

Yeah, so sue me if that wasn't where you wanted me to go.

If you don't like it, then no one is forcing you to read it…unless you are being forced, in which case I apologize (that last part was joke by the way).

We've had 10+ incredible years to be with these characters and their adventures. But this time, they aren't the main focus. Instead, they will be, more or less, secondary characters but they still will have a rather large role.

The story of Stargate International instead revolves around, as the name suggests, a recently created SG team, SG-26, comprised of members from foreign nations. In this case the nations of the Russian Federation, United Kingdom, Canada and the Kingdom of Spain. Think of it as Rainbow Six meets Stargate SG-1 but with a larger twist. Now again, if you don't like this idea, you don't have to read this.

Another important thing I should mention is that since these characters are from foreign countries that don't speak english, they would sometimes say words or phrases in their native languages. So if you something like this: "Tovarishch!" and then 'Comrades'. That second part is obviously the translation and not part of the actual dialouge.

As mentioned before, the story is about SG-26, not SG-1, and several story and character arks that are set between 2012 and 2013, five to six years following 'Unending', the final episode of Stargate SG-1.

But I'm stretching this note too far...

So Happy Reading and don't forget…your reviews are appreciated. It is the only way to make this story better.

* * *

><p>Chapter 1: Breaching Trust<p>

P5R-947

11:31 P.M

In the dead of night, four SG members find themselves running through the thick forest of a distant world, light-years away from Earth. Behind this team, a cloud of bullets sped towards them. The heavy breathing and sweat could be felt, as their stamina gradually diminished. The commander, a woman, ordered one of the members to dial the gate once the reached it.

"You got it mate!" One of the members said, firing his Berretta Mx4 Storm sub-machine gun behind him, towards the hidden enemy.

Upon reaching the Stargate, the remaining three members took position to protect the dialer. The woman aimed her AK-200 at the path they had traversed and fired three shots to keep the oncoming enemy from approaching them. Another member was in the prone position, firing his M27 Infantry Automatic Rifle where the woman was also firing at. A third member, also a woman, was wearing night-vision goggles as she fired her C7A2 Carbine.

"'Miles'!" The commander yelled at the dialer. "Why is the Stargate not activated?"

The member, whose callsign is 'Miles', spat at the ground before resuming the dialing.

"You try finding the symbols while under fire," He said. "Then placing them in the right order!"

A bullet flew close by, nearly impacting his head.

After two long minutes, 'Miles' finally pressed the center stone and the kawhoosh from the Stargate blew forward before receding.

"The gate is open!" The woman with the NVG exclaimed.

"Send in the code!" The commander yelled, replacing her empty magazine with a fresh one while she stood behind a tree for cover.

The woman with the NVG pulled up her jacket's left sleeve which revealed the GDO. After less than five seconds of punching in the IDC, she gave a thumb up to her commander, who nodded.

"'Miles'," She yelled to the dialer.

"Yeah, yeah," 'Miles' replied. "I'm going through,"

He sprinted across the clearing towards the gate. After quickly stepping up the steps, 'Miles' ran through the blue event horizon and disappeared.

"'Miles' clear, LTC," The man with the M27, 'Ace', said.

"'Love', you're next," The Commander said to the other woman.

"Yes, Ma'am, see you back on Earth," She said before sprinting towards the gate.

The remaining two soldiers covered the woman's retreat before she too crossed through the portal.

"Go 'Ace'," The commander said, emptying another magazine.

"But 'Nate'," The remaining member tried to argue.

"Ubiraĭsya ot suda, Sergeant!" 'Get out of here!' The commander yelled, replacing her empty magazine. "I'll cover your escape,"

'Ace' nodded and stood up. After shooting another set of bullets against the pursuers, he retreated through the gate.

The commander was all that was left. She quickly turned around on her heels and ran for the gate. As she passed the DHD, three stray bullets penetrated her right shoulder, arm and left leg. The commander yelled in pain as momentum pushed her forward onto the ground, dropping her assault rifle. After hitting the dirt, she looked up to find the gate shutdown. At that moment, she felt as if she was defeated and left behind. After a moment, she found herself surrounded by the enemy, all of which had trained their weapons on the commander.

"So, the others made it through," A voice asked behind the woman.

"Yes sir," Another replied.

"No matter," The first voice remarked. "We still have their leader,"

Slipping her hand into her secondary holster, the commander pulled out a Makarov 9mm pistol. Quickly rolling over onto her back, she aimed the weapon at the origin of the voice. Before she could fire however, she was shot with a zat'nik'tel, stunning her. The commander felt herself become paralyzed as she dropped her pistol.

"A sneaky one too," The first voice commented.

After the enemy began to drag the commander back through the forest, she thought back to how this all began and why it had to be her…light-years from home.

5 Months Earlier…

Moscow, Russia, Earth

01:00 A.M

Five months earlier, the snow had been falling from the heavens for constant hours back in the Russian capital, causing traffic hazards and snow plows to be hard at work. At the time, the commander never would have imagined that going to other worlds would have been commonplace. No, five months earlier, the commander had been more concentrated on finding terrorists and criminals who had stolen sensitive information from an FSB storage warehouse.

Theft couldn't begin to describe what had happened. A break in at the FSB facility left three good Russians dead and civilian bystanders wounded. The Kremlin seemed to have known who was behind it, yet they haven't bothered to enlighten the team, who would be brining them to justice...that would include the commander herself. The FSB and local police managed to locate the safehouse that held the sensitive information as well as the men responsible. The Kremlin, however, did not want civilian agencies involved in the take down, so they sent the best they had. There were rumors among the Special Forces community that aliens, something about a Trust, might have been involved. In fact, the word Trust had been thrown around quite often. Of course, no one believed in such nonsense. Yet it still had not deterred any discomfort among the team.

34 years of age, 16 of which were spent in service to her country, the commander, Lieutenant Colonel Natasha Alexeyeva, still held onto her Kalashnikov as if she was still a fresh recruit, barely holding on as the road became bumpy.

"Sergeant," She said to her subordinate at the other side of the moving van.

"Yes Podpolkovnik?" Sergeant Sergei Balashov asked.

Alexeyeva looked at the rest of her team.

"Remember the plan," She told them.

"Understood Ma'am," Balashov replied.

A pot hole caused the van to jump and the Lieutenant Colonel to shoot a glance at the driver.

"Hey," She began. "I'm not walking home today,"

The driver waved his hand in acknowledgement. The woman sat back into the wall of the van and sighed.

"Tired?" Balashov asked.

The Lieutenant Colonel shrugged.

"It's one in the morning, Balashov, of course I'm tired," She answered.

"I was just asking," Balashov replied as the van stopped.

"Here we are," The driver announced.

Two of Alexeyeva's men opened the back doors and the four Special Forces operatives disembarked. They all remembered their plans. Praporshchik Boris Vitsin and Sergeant Gregory Banin were to take the rooftop and prepare for repelling into the windows of the safehouse in the apartment. Alexeyeva and Balashov were to breach the front door and assault anyone on the inside.

"No Survivors..." Alexeyeva remembered reading those final two words that were part of her orders.

As much used to killing as she was already…she could never come to terms that she had already killed before.

Within the shadows, the team moved quickly and quietly, unnoticed by those who were busy with the flashing lights of local law enforcement and the media.

"So what if it's true?" Vitsin asked.

"About what?" Banin replied.

"You know…the aliens,"

"Oh shut up," Balashov commented.

"I mean it, what if we've been invaded?"

"The only aliens anyone has to worry about are illegal aliens and, to be honest, that's the Americans' problem,"

"Speaking of which, I also heard that they…" Vitsin was cut off.

"All of you quite," Alexeyeva intruded. "I don't want any more of this Alien garbage, you hear me?"

Everyone nodded.

The Lieutenant Colonel signaled Vitsin and Banin, whom would be climbing onto the roof, while she signaled Balashov to follow her instead.

The climb was not the challenge the team was to expect, once the Lieutenant Colonel and the Sergeant were on the floor they needed to be. Resistance was to be felt beyond breaching the door. Through the window, the female solider slipped past before being followed by her partner. Bringing their weapons into their hands, the two slowly advanced down the hall towards the target room.

"We're on the roof waiting for your order, Podpolkovnik," Vitsin radioed the Commander.

It was supposed to be simple: Go in, kill the enemy, extract Intel, and get out.

Alexeyeva and her team knew far better.

Balashov took out a snake cam from his vest and slid the lens under the door. After a brief examination, the Sergeant signaled to the Lieutenant Colonel that there were seven hostiles. She nodded and quietly armed her rifle. But before preparing to engage, the Sergeant placed his hand on the commander's rifle and shook his head. He meant that it was too close quarters for it. The Commander nodded and switched her weapon to a PP-2000. Also taking from his vest, the Sergeant pulled out a breaching charge and the two operatives placed the explosive onto the door. They stepped back before Alexeyeva gave the countdown.

A loud blast and the door were no longer there.

"Go, go, go!" The commander yelled.

The Sergeant took lead with his shotgun and the Commander in tow. Though blinded by the smoke, the commander could hear gunfire and what sounded like an electrical discharge as well as glass shattering, showing that the other two had made it inside. As she quickly dashed from room to room, from one smoke screen to another, Alexeyeva saw someone fly past her, a body that once belonged to the enemy. Distracted with what she witnessed, the commander heard a yell that originated from the Sergeant.

One of the blue energy lines struck him down and a hail of bullets flew towards the commander herself. She side rolled to a wall and kept her head downward. Throwing her hand that held her sub-machine gun, she blind fired the weapon. Of course she felt stupid for doing so, endangering her remaining men with this kind of manner. Then again…she did become reckless recently and she had no choice. It was either kill the enemy, and probably wound her own men…or risk loosing everyone, including herself.

The shooting stopped when her magazine had no more bullets. Dropping her PP-2000, the Lieutenant Colonel proceeded to pull out her MP-443 Grach sidearm knowing that the Kalashnikov was too much for close-quarters.

Going around the wall that protected her, through the smoke, Alexeyeva slowly advanced in a crouching position through the apartment.

Keeping the pistol close to her chest, the Lieutenant Colonel stood up and passed the entrance into the next room. Upon entering, she was met with a fist to the face. The blow knocked her off her feet and she fell on her back. Dazed, the Lieutenant Colonel tried to get back up but was lifted by the throat. The commando could feel her life slipping away as her sight slowly dimmed. Before her eyesight completely blacked out, she saw her attacker…his eyes briefly glowed.

With what little strength left, Sergeant Balashov pulled out his sidearm and fired his entire clip into the foe that was choking his commander. Once the enemy had fallen, so had the sergeant's arm that held the pistol and two lives ended. The rooms were littered with dirt, shrapnel and glass. Once the smoke had cleared…nearly every single person in that apartment died…or were struggling to survive.

Alexeyeva struggled to breathe when she woke up. Coughing and wheezing, the woman nearly collapsed when she tried to stand. The Lieutenant Colonel limped towards her grounded comrade, a natural reflex. She knelt down and pressed two of her fingers over the Sergeant's neck to check his pulse. She sighed in relief for he was still alive. When she looked at the other two, however, their torn bodies lay silently on the floor, covering the broken glass and pools of blood. The opposition, too, were dead.

A quiet beeping sound, clicking on interval, could not escape the Lieutenant Colonel's earshot. She turned her head to the bed and approached. There she found a suitcase. After a short debate of whether or not to open it, Alexeyeva reluctantly flipped up the clips and raised the casing. There she found what appeared to be a bomb. She could not tell. It was unlike anything she had seen before. It was a sphere shaped device with a medium tint of gray. On top of the sphere, strange symbols were being lit up and then dimmed as a light circled around the center of the top base of the device. Half of the symbols, however, were already a solid color.

The Lieutenant Colonel knew that most bombs were the same when it came to the detonator. This was on a timer and there was little time left, at most of three minutes. She quickly ran back to the incapacitated Sergeant. She knelt down and grabbed him by his vest. She began to drag him behind her, out of the room. When she returned to their entry point, the window, she found that the ropes were still there. Just before she began attaching her unconscious comrade to one of the ropes, the Sergeant regained conscious.

"Podpolkovnik," He began.

"There's no time to explain," The Commander replied. "We must get out of here…"

The two began to hook up to the ropes and prepare to go back down. Then they both heard a long ping. The Lieutenant Colonel realized then and there that time was up.

"JUMP!" She yelled.

The two soldiers let go of their ropes as an orange blast burst through the window.

The blast threw the Lieutenant Colonel to the adjacent wall of another building, bashing her right arm. The two continued to fall. Thankfully, however, their fall was broken after they landed on a garbage dump, saving them from an impending fate. The impact nearly knocked out the Lieutenant Colonel when she landed on her back. Her vision began to blacken and blur as she saw lights approaching the alley. It was their van, driven by another member of the Lieutenant Colonel's team. He got out of the vehicle and quickly approached the other two.

"My god," He said. "What the hell happened up there?"

"I don't know," Sergeant Balashov replied, standing up from the dump.

Sirens could be heard approaching the building.

"But we must go now,"

The driver nodded.

"Is the Podpolkovnik alright," He asked.

The Sergeant quickly turned around to find his unconscious, half buried commander in the garbage dump.

"Chyort!" The Sergeant breathed. Damn.

He quickly waded his way through the garbage to reach his leader. He nearly chocked on his own breath when he saw how bloody her face was. Cuts and mild burns were everywhere, leaving streams of blood drooling down her forehead, cheeks and chin. Yet despite this, the Sergeant found, she seemed at peace. He picked her up and carried her in his arms.

"Help me get her inside," The Sergeant said to the other.

They gently placed the Lieutenant Colonel into the van. The Sergeant sat next to her while the driver got back behind the wheel.

"We need to head to the hospital, immediately!" The Sergeant said to the driver.

"The hell we are," The driver said. "We got to return to Headquarters and report back, they will take care of her."

The Sergeant said nothing, unsure of what was to happen.


	2. Split Loyalty

Chapter 2: Split Loyalty

The Following Afternoon:

Washington D.C, USA, Earth

01:09 P.M

Following the attack onto the safehouse, the Kremlin informed the American Government of what has occurred. President Henry Hays thanked the Russian President for the information and immediately called a close friend at the Pentagon. The one who was running Homeworld Command.

"Looks like she's available Jack," Hays spoke into the phone.

_"Sir, I still think that this is a mistake,"_ The man, on the other end, replied.

"Oh will you stop it," The President asked. "The cold war ended over twenty years ago,"

_"You know me, Mr. President, I'm not exactly very trusting of others,"_ The man replied sarcastically.

"I'm sure Mr. Woolsey will have something for me when he calls back,"

_"That guy, huh,"_ The man replied.

"Since Atlantis is safe here on Earth, Woolsey had returned to the IOA,"

"_Spare me the history lesson sir, I'm aware of Woolsey's whereabouts and what Carter is having him do,"_

"Well, let's hope he can convince the Lieutenant Colonel to join Stargate Command,"

_"That whole Multi-National team thing sir?"_ The man asked.

"You bet, Jack,"

_"Carter has a knack of coming up with some great ideas in the past but somehow I think she has got in over her head with this one and I'm being polite by saying that."_

"She only appointed another ten teams for Stargate Command, Jack,"

_"That's not what I meant, Sir,"_ "What did you mean then, General?"

_"Why a Ruski, a Spetsnaz Operator of all people,"_

"Part of the agreement with General Carter's choice to accept the terms of the U.N's request was that a Russian Operative should be chosen to command the first of the ten teams."

The man on the other end sighed.

_"Sometimes,"_ He commented. _"I think I've been here too long,"_

"You have a point Jack, you were never this political before," Hays replied. "Besides, arguing is pointless. It's General Carter's prerogative to accept or decline the Lieutenant Colonel's enlistment, though it's really up to the person in question,"

_"Just making sure sir,"_

"I'll call you when Woolsey tells me of the Russian's response," Then Hays hanged up.

Moscow, Russia, Earth

01:15 P.M

Sergeant Balashov slept on his chair, formerly watching and waiting for his commander to reawaken. After returning to HQ and giving their assessment, what little there was, their superiors gave the survivors several personal days off. Sergeant Viktor Glazkov, the driver, was getting coffee from a vending machine outside of the infirmary. He returned about half an hour after he first left. After he reentered the infirmary, he awoken the Balashov and handed him a cup of coffee. After thanking Glazkov, he chugged half of the contents into his mouth and down his throat. Glazkov, wide-eyed, witnessed his teammate do this, and dropped his mouth.

"Wasn't that hot, Sergei?"

The other Sergeant took a moment before answering.

"Extremely," Balashov replied.

Glazkov shook his head at the response.

"I'd prefer Vodka in these situations…but it never hurts to stay awake." Balashov added.

Glazkov nodded, sipping his coffee as well.

The two men said nothing for nearly ten minutes, staring at their commanding officer. It wasn't until Balashov, a veteran solider who knew Alexeyeva for years, broke the ice.

"The doctors say that Natasha will be clear to leave the hospital sometime next week."

Glazkov shrugged. "I was going to ask how _you_ were feeling,"

Balashov snorted.

"I was given a clear bill of health, despite falling nearly three stories to Earth,"

Glazkov took another sip.

"Do you remember anything?" He asked.

Balashov sat back into his seat, sighing.

"After breaching into the apartment, I remember this blue line hitting me and I felt as if I was being electrocuted,"

Glazkov raised an eyebrow.

"I nearly lost consciousness, seeing the Lieutenant Colonel being chocked to death,"

Glazkov was beginning to get uncomfortable.

"I killed the bastard and then my world went black,"

"Then you barely escaped an explosion…" Glazkov added to the Sergeant's story.

"And somehow survived a fall that surely would have killed the commander and me if it weren't for that dump."

"Deus Ex Machina, as they always say," A voice spoke.

The two men turned their attention to the bed. The words belonged to the Lieutenant Colonel, who had just awoken. Balashov and Glazkov didn't say anything as they were still stunned that their commander woke up sooner than expected. The Lieutenant Colonel chuckled, amused of her teammates' shock.

"We'd thought you were…" Balashov was cut off.

"Were what?" Alexeyeva asked, grinning. "That I was in a coma?"

"To be honest, yes," Glazkov added.

"Guess I'm a little bit too tough for being killed in an explosion,"

"Or falling a long way down," Balashov added.

The Lieutenant Colonel sat back into her pillow, sighing. She wiped the smile off her face before giving grave news, tears forming in her eyes.

"Vitsin and Banin didn't make it…"

The other two looked away in sorrow.

"They were already dead before the bomb detonated…so…"

"We still lost two good men," Balashov, grumbled, somewhat bitter at his CO.

"And worse still," Glazkov added. "The files that we were tasked to get were not on either of you,"

Balashov shot a look at his commander, whom was too, wide eyed.

"Shit," The trio knew that they failed and lost their men for nothing.

"I'm going back and meet with the Colonel and try to assess our situation," Glazkov said, pointing his left thumb behind him.

"That won't be necessary, Sergeant Glazkov," A voice behind them spoke.

Everyone looked back to find their commanding officer, Colonel Ivan Yermakov, approaching the three soldiers. Behind him was another man, older, bald, in a suit and tie and carrying a briefcase.

"In fact," The Colonel said. "I need you and Sergeant Balashov to leave, please,"

"Understood, Colonel," Glazkov said, saluting.

Balashov, too nodded and saluted before leaving. Once the room was cleared, aside from the Colonels and the man, Colonel Yermakov cleared his throat.

"Lieutenant Colonel Alexeyeva, this is Richard Woolsey," He introduced the two.

"How do you do, sir," Alexeyeva asked in English.

The other man smiled.

"For someone in my position, very well, thank you,"

"It turns out that Mr. Woolsey here has come here after that…operation from last night."

The man named Woolsey nodded.

"It turns out that you and your team stumbled upon something that both the Russian and U.S government were after for almost a year," He explained.

The Lieutenant Colonel shook her head before looking away, sensing that there was more to this than what it appeared.

"So," She began. "Are you here to congratulate me?"

"If you'd like," Woolsey paused.

"The real reason why Richard Woolsey is here is because you're being reassigned." The Colonel said, revealing the man's true purpose.

At that moment, Alexeyeva, in that sudden rage, rushed off her bed, yanked out the IV lines out of her arms. Despite a surge of pain in her left side and right arm broken, she managed to stomp her way towards the man in uniform.

"What the hell are you saying, Colonel?" She asked him, pointing her left index finger at his chest.

"That because I screwed up, you are handing me over to American authorities?"

"Calm down, Natasha," Yermakov replied, swapping the finger away. "You are not under arrest, you're being reassigned, that's all I can say to you right now,"

The Lieutenant Colonel then directed her attention to the other man.

"Why are you here then, Mr. Woolsey," She asked. "Why do you want me?"

"There really isn't anyone else." Woolsey replied.

"Sure there is, you have…"

The woman nearly collapsed onto the floor before the Colonel helped her back onto her bed.

"You should rest now, Lieutenant Colonel, you've earned it."

Alexeyeva sighed and lay back down, feeling betrayed, abandoned even, to be simply handed over to someone else like a play-thing. She gave off a death glare at the man in the suit.

"I will NOT work for the Americans," She spat at him.

"You won't be…you'll be representing the Russian Federation while working for a multi-national group,"

"Do they hunt terrorists and protect civilians?" Alexeyeva asked. "Because that's what we do in this country."

Woolsey half-smiled.

"Not exactly." He replied.

"And when do I have to leave for this…multi-national unit?" Alexeyeva asked.

"In a few days, we need you in America as quickly as possible but you can fully recover when you arrive there."

"Why the rush?" The woman asked.

"Political reasons," Yermakov replied. "It's been getting hellish recently,"

Then the two men began to leave.

"Lieutenant Colonel," Woolsey began, looking over his shoulder.

Alexeyeva looked back at him from her bed.

"I can see how you feel about all this, so consider this as a promotion," He added.

Then the two men were gone.

The Lieutenant Colonel had no idea what she just agreed to do, reluctantly of course. Still though, even after five months, she still had not regretted anything.


	3. Reassignment

Chapter 3: Reassignment

3 Days Later

Pentagon, Arlington County, Virginia, USA

04:31 P.M

After the bandages came off and the arm cast on, scars were found to be embedded across her face and body. Finding herself at the American Department of Defense, or the Pentagon, a few days later, the Lieutenant Colonel sat with her hands on her lap. Her uniform identified her as a Russian solider, sticking her out of the rest. Whenever others passed, they couldn't help but stare at this stranger. She was sitting in a waiting room inside the Pentagon, something few people from the Russian Federation could achieve. But it was not a social call, especially after what had happened in Moscow. Almost half of her team died and she and another almost followed suit. She was forced to leave her fellow team mates behind for something she had not asked for and travel thousands of miles away from home. Not to mention that she still needed time for her injuries to recover.

Keeping her head down and to her self, the Russian patiently waited, checking her watch every now and again. It was already half past four in the afternoon and she was still waiting for someone to greet her. Woolsey was not able to join the Russian at the Pentagon due to 'Pressing Matters', so when someone did arrive to welcome her, she was already too exhausted and too distrusting to show enthusiasm.

"Lieutenant Colonel Alexeyeva, I presume?" A man asked.

She looked up and found the man with a stern look on his face.

"I am," The Lieutenant Colonel replied.

"Major Davis," The man introduced himself.

After Alexeyeva stood up, the two shook hands. Davis had then led the Russian through the rooms of the Pentagon.

"I assume you have been briefed?" Davis asked.

"Nyet, Major,"

"Then General O'Neill will be able to fill in the details," Davis replied.

"I hope so," The Russian replied.

As the two walked into another section of the Pentagon, Alexeyeva noticed a sign reading 'Homeworld Command'. She asked the Major what was the meaning of it. He didn't reply until they reached a door reading 'Lieutenant General J. O'Neill', followed by three stars, written in a plaque that hung on the door.

"You're better off asking him instead." Davis replied.

The Russian nodded and knocked on the door.

"Come in," She heard.

"Good luck, Colonel," Natasha heard Davis say to her.

Lieutenant General Jonathan O'Neill, commonly known as Jack by close friends and colleagues, was doing paperwork as the Russian Lieutenant Colonel walked in. The man, in his late fifties, placed his pen down and interlaced his fingers. Looking up at the woman, he expected to find a beauty queen who looked like a model. Instead he found a woman who looked she had been through hell. Scars across her face, made more noticeable with the burns across her cheeks and forehead. Her right arm was in a cast after it was badly injured. Her eyes were bloodshot from the tiredness and her figure was cringed from overwork and fatigue. She also had a grim but serious look, as if she wasn't exactly happy to be where she was. O'Neill thought this had to be the wrong person; that no way this could be the Russian Spetsnaz operative that was Richard Woolsey spoke oh so highly about. Yet when he checked her file again, the photo was a near perfect match, minus the scars and burns. He shook his head and moving his mouth before introducing himself, as he would to a Russian. So he stood up, finding the woman slightly shorter than he.

Alexeyeva extended her uninjured arm to shake hands with the General.

"Lieutenant Colonel Natasha Alexeyeva," She said politely. "Reporting as ordered,"

The General blankly stared, still surprised at the look of the woman, returning to his former self.

"I could have sworn I was going to meet someone else?" He said, sitting down, without shaking hands.

The woman sighed, dissatisfied with man's lack of 'returning the politeness'.

"I have seen better days, General O'Neill," She smiled weakly.

"I bet you have, please have a seat," The General gestured the woman to the chair in front of the desk.

"That's all right General, I'll stand."

"Colonel…clearly you are probably in a lot of pain…so please, have a seat."

The Russian nodded, taking a seat before the General.

The General took a moment to read through a folder that was marked with a 'Classified' stamp over the front cover.

"Three days ago, you and your team breached a safehouse that belonged to several individuals that have raided an FSB facility about two weeks before that…that correct?" "Sir…you have the reports, you have my statement, you have everything…why have me answer the question again?"

The General looked up at the woman once more.

"I just want to make sure that you said everything," He replied.

The Russian smirked, albeit painfully given her wounds.

"When it comes to free speech on politics, it's not so free in my country," She explained. "But we never lie or hold back when soldats like myself are asked about an operation by our superiors."

"Did you happen to mention that you botched it?"

"A pyrrhic victory, you understand, I don't intend on doing something such as that again," "Because if something like this happens again, you know that you will most likely get killed," O'Neill stated.

The Russian sensed honesty, earnestly and respect. Yet she knew that the General didn't like her. Regardless, the Russian nodded.

Alexeyeva wanted answers from this man; she wanted to know why she had to be brought here, to America. She decided to ask quickly, before the subject got outdated.

"You're here because of who you fought." The General answered.

"And who were they?" The Russian asked. "Who were those men?"

The General stayed silent. The Russian had an 'Oh, I see,' look across her face.

"You are not going to tell me, are you," She asked.

"Not yet,"

"Does the Kremlin know?" The Russian asked.

The General still didn't answer. Instead, he told her something else.


	4. Arrival

Chapter 4: Arrival

Cheyenne Mountain Complex, Colorado Springs, Colorado

09:25 A.M

The road gave turbulence to the Lieutenant Colonel, whom was being driven in an SUV down Norad Road. Natasha, still with bloodshot eyes, spent the night before in a motel, trying to understand why this was happening and, most importantly, why it was happening to her. The driver, a female Major in her mid thirties, volunteered to drive the Russian to the mountain, since the Major also worked there. General O'Neill promised the woman that the answers she craved for would be revealed at the North American Aerospace Defense Command.

_"NORAD?" The Russian asked the General. _

_"Yup," He replied. _

_"What does your Aerospace Command have anything to do with happened in Moscow?" _

_"You'll find out…I'll have transport waiting for you within the hour, so uh…have fun touring the neighborhood until then," O'Neill answered. _

_The Russian scoffed. _

_"I'm sorry," The man asked. _

_"Two of my men are dead because we didn't expect the enemy to be prepared for us," Alexeyeva began. _

_"Now you're saying that I have been reassigned from one of the most secretive and elite Spetsnaz units to the most secretive military installation the Americans have just to get answers…" She paused._

_"Did Woolsey happen to mention what the reassignment was?" O'Neill asked. _

_The Russian shook her head. _

_"Of course not," The man replied, sarcastically. _

_"Then prepare to be surprised, trust me, you're gonna love it,"_

_As the Russian began to leave, the General stopped her with a question she hoped would never be asked._

_"Your file says you're single," The General began. _

_"I beg your pardon?" She asked, turning her head. _

_"Your ring," _

_The Russian said nothing and the General took the hint but it had not deterred him from inquiring further. _

_"What's with the ring if you're not…" _

_"I'm divorced, General," The Russian cut in, snapping at him like a turtle that does the same. "It's a complicated matter, you understand," _

_"Yeah, I do actually," The General replied. "And why still keep the ring?" _

_The Russian's face began to turn grim and angry, despite the pain it was causing. _

_"As I said, it's not worth discussing," _

_"You never said that," _

_The Russian shook her head. _

_"Please, General," Alexeyeva answered. "I don't want old wounds to open again." _

_The General could tell that the Russian was beginning to tear up a bit, so he said nothing. _

_"I will wait for this 'transport to NORAD'," The Russian said, exiting the room._

_The woman found herself alone in the motel in Colorado Springs several hours later, awaiting transportation by the United States Air Force to take her to NORAD. She decided to take the time to examine 'damaged goods'. Upon removing her uniform jacket and blouse, she was met with a scarred body when she faced her reflection on the mirror. Tracing the scars on her face and chest, there was no pain. When she came into contact with burned skin, she quietly mumbled in pain with each touch. Her damaged arm spiked with pain every time she tried to move it, twice she nearly screamed at how much it hurt. _

_Turning 180 degrees, she twisted her neck to find a tattoo of a red dragon, spanning down her back. She half-smiled remembering how she was able to pick her first tattoo. She visited England as a teenager with her younger sister and brother, discreetly gaining the tattoo without her parent's consent. She was able to keep it away for almost a year. Before going to college, however, she decided to come clean to her parents. Her mother screamed when she saw the dragon while her father laughed. _

_"There's no way the cemetery is going to accept you now, ha…but I must admit I'm rather impressed with the design and how you were able to hide it for so long, considering it's size," _

_"What are you, Vlad, stupid?" The mother asked. _

_"Next thing you know, she's going to become one of those punk freaks," _

_Natasha couldn't help but laugh. _

_"Please don't worry about it mother," She said._

_"I may be stubborn enough to get a tattoo…but I'm still stubborn enough to be my own person,"_

_After examining her scarred body, she walked over to her bag, which lay idly on her bed. She took out a clean white t-shirt and carefully put it on. She sat down on her bed and looked at her unhurt arm. Her second tattoo could be seen on that arm. It was a tribal-stylized tattoo she got after she was accepted into the Russian Spetsnaz program. The same day it was her twenty-third birthday and was already a Lieutenant, a rank equivalent to Second Lieutenant in the United States. Her father commented on how fast she was ranking up in the military. _

_"Goddamnit, Natasha," He said to her, placing his arm around her. _

_"At this rate you'll be a Colonel by the time the decade is out." _

_Natasha smiled at her father. _

_"Thank you, dad," She said. "It means a lot to me," _

_He was wrong by one rank and a year. Still though, it almost happened._

_Eyeing the phone before her, she picked up the receiver and placed to her left ear. Placing pressure on the phone with her head, she used her free arm to dial a number. After three rings, someone on the other end answered the call. _

_"Hello?" It was a man's voice. _

_The Lieutenant Colonel was reluctant to say anything. _

The SUV was stopped at the final checkpoint before entering the tunnel into Cheyenne Mountain Complex.

"Morning Major Satterfield,"

"Morning Sergeant," The driver replied.

"A guest with you?" The guard asked, eyeing the Russian.

"Yes sir, General Carter has authorized her visit," The driver said, handing a folded paper to the sergeant.

After a brief examination, and another glance at the stranger, the Sergeant nodded his head and allowed the vehicle to pass.

The daylight vanished as quickly as the SUV had entered the tunnel. The lights overhead passed by as the Russian looked out the window, leaning on the glass. The driver glanced at the back view mirror, making eye contact with her passenger.

"Not too many foreigners had gotten passed the front door."

The Russian exchanged glances yet she had not replied.

"Especially Russians,"

"Are you saying I'm not the first from my country?" Alexeyeva asked.

"Actually no," Satterfield began.

"Strange…Americans are not easy to trust others with their nuclear defenses, especially with Russians and I can not blame you,"

The driver smiled politely to the Russian's reply.

"Don't worry about it, a lot of people here are open minded," She told the Lieutenant Colonel. Alexeyeva still hadn't felt any better.

_"Igor, it's me," Natasha finally spoke through the phone. _

_"Natasha…my god, where are you?"_

_"I'm fine, Igor," The woman replied. _

_The man, Igor Korovin, on the other end chuckled. _

_"I can hear that," He said. "But, no really, how are you…you haven't been returning my calls nor my letters for that matter," _

_The woman sighed before answering. _

_"I've…been a little busy," The woman could tell that the man was shaking his head on the other end._

_"So I figured," The man replied. _

_"You know I can't talk about the nature of my work, Igor," _

_"Yes, I understood this when we first started dating," The man replied. "But Balashov has discreetly informed me of what had happened…" _

_The woman cursed constantly for five seconds under her breath, angered and frustrated with the man's intellect for gathering information. He used to work for the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service before he decided to change career paths and became a businessman before he met Natasha. He used his ties with the SVR to help him make deals that work in his favor, eventually becoming CEO of a major Russian Aerospace Corporation. _

_"Sergei wasn't supposed to tell you," _

_"He cares about you, like any subordinate should," _

_"Maybe," Natasha replied. _

_"You know, Natasha, spouses are supposed to care for each other too," Igor added. _

_"Which is why I left you," Natasha answered. "You deserve better," _

_"What happened to…" The man paused. "It wasn't your fault,"_

Satterfield parked the vehicle next to a massive and thick blast door. The intimidating size of this barrier had taken the Lieutenant Colonel aback. The driver laughed a bit. "Don't let it get to you, it's for your protection, Colonel," The Russian shook her head. The two disembarked from the SUV and approached the blast door. They were greeted by a passing Airman, who saluted them, more to Satterfield than the Russian, she thought. As the two women continued down the corridor, past the blast door, they met the first security checkpoint.

"This is the V.I.P," Satterfield introduced the Russian to the guard.

The man nodded and typed into his terminal.

"Yep, General Carter is expecting the guest," He later verified.

Satterfield, after given the go-ahead, pressed her right palm into the scanner on the table. After she was cleared, she passed the checkpoint.

"Ma'am," The guard said to the Russian. "It's standard procedure for all visitors to register themselves into the system so that I can issue them a clearance card."

The Russian nodded. She placed her right palm over the scanner but hesitated.

"It's alright, Ma'am, you can go ahead and place your palm on the scanner now," The guard said.

The Lieutenant Colonel snapped out trance and placed her palm onto the scanner.

"Thank you for your cooperation…Lieutenant Colonel Natasha Alexeia,"

"It's Alexeyeva, sir," The Russian corrected him.

"Apologies, Ma'am, not all that great in pronunciation," The guard replied, smiling, handing the Russian her temporary ID badge.

The Lieutenant Colonel accepted the card and passed the checkpoint, catching up with the Major.

"There doesn't seem to be that much security," The Lieutenant Colonel commented.

"You'd be surprised," Satterfield replied as the two entered the elevator.

Alexeyeva noticed the elevator controls and found that there were twenty-eight buttons.

"What exactly do you do here, Major," She asked.

Satterfield smiled, pressing a button reading '27'.

"You'll see, and you will be surprised." She answered.

Then the elevator doors closed and the two descended underground.


	5. Going Under

Chapter 5: Going Under

Cheyenne Mountain Complex

09:50 A.M

Half-way through the elevator ride, Satterfield could tell that the Russian was getting uneasy.

"If you don't mind my asking," The Major began, hoping to ease the tension.

"But are you claustrophobic,"

Alexeyeva found the question quite random, yet she answered.

"You have twenty-eight floors of an underground complex and I have been reassigned to it," She replied, scoffing.

"So?" Satterfield asked.

"What can you possibly do here?"

Satterfield shrugged at the question.

"A lot," She replied.

The Russian shook her head.

"If this turns out to be anything like Aperture Science, I'll take my leave," She said, chuckling.

Satterfield grinned.

"Oh wow," She said. "I didn't know you played Portal,"

"What can I say, Major," She replied, shrugging. "It's a fun game,"

"To be honest," Satterfield added. "You never struck me as a gamer type,"

"Are you one, Major?"

"Well, sorta, I mean I play a lot of games like Call of Duty in my spare time with the other guys,"

Alexeyeva shook her head.

"Something wrong?" Satterfield asked.

"Tell me something Major," The Russian commented. "Why is it that American game designers chose Russia as America's primary villain almost every time?"

"Well," Satterfield began. "Guess it's the Cold War blues," She laughed uneasily.

Alexeyeva leaned back towards the elevator wall, placing her uninjured hand into her pocket, still not satisfied with the Major's response.

"Don't worry about it, Colonel," Satterfield replied, trying to make light of the conversation.

"They are just video games,"

"Da, well, I preferred the ones that took place during the Great Patriotic War,"

"You mean World War Two?" Satterfield clarified.

The Russian nodded.

The elevator stopped descending and the doors retracted open. The two found themselves facing a linear corridor, decorated with pictures of planes that belonged to the United States Air Force.

"Impressive collection," Alexeyeva heard herself mumble.

"Oh, well, thank you Colonel," Satterfield replied.

"There's plenty of more around here but most people just ignore them,"

The two turned past one corner and then again around another, finding two doors before them. One door was ahead and another was to the left side. Satterfield knocked on the door to the left, the one that read 'Brigadier General Samantha Carter' followed by one star.

"She was just recently given the position," Satterfield explained as they both head a

"Come in,"

The two women entered the room. They found boxes littered everywhere and a woman behind a desk, who was hanging up her phone.

"Ah," She said, standing up from her chair.

"You must be Lieutenant Colonel Alexeyeva,"

"Yes Ma'am, that would be me," The Russian replied, saluting.

The commanding officer, General Samantha Carter nodded at Satterfield.

"Thank you, Major, you're dismissed," She said.

Satterfield saluted and then left the room, closing the door behind her.

Carter sat back onto her chair, leaning into the desk, rubbing her forehead.

"So much to do these days," She began.

"Ma'am?" Alexeyeva asked.

Carter looked up and smiled.

"Sorry, it's just the responsibilities of command…again,"

"This is not your first time commanding a base?"

"Not the first time for this particular base, no," The general replied.

Alexeyeva nodded.

Carter gestured the Russian to take a seat and she complied.

"General Carter, may I ask you something,"

The General nodded.

"Please ask," She said.

Alexeyeva took a deep breath.

"For two weeks, I have barely had any sleep," She began. "A federal building was invaded, killing a few innocent people and wounding more, I lost two of my men when we finally caught up with those who were responsible, those two men I had known personally, a bomb had gone off, and no one would tell me who those hostiles were, please General, I beg of you, tell me what is happening,"

Carter nodded as she listened.

"I would," She began.

Carter paused, taking the time to pull out a vanilla folder, stacked with papers, from her desk.

"But you will have to sign this," She said, handing the folder to the Russian.

After a brief examination, Alexeyeva shot her head up back to the General.

"A Non-Disclosure Agreement?" She asked.

"I've taken the liberty of cooking it up while you where you were on your way to the Pentagon, whatever you see and hear in this base…you are bound to not say anything outside this mountain,"

"So this was all planed?" The Russian asked, opening to the first page that held the signatory line.

"It's a bit more complicated than that." Carter replied.

Alexeyeva shook her head. After all this time, from that fight in Moscow to going twenty seven stories downward into the ground underneath the U.S, the Russian had to a lot to think about. She closed the folder, but kept it on her lap. After shooting a glance to her right, eyeing a briefing room through the glass that was covered by a star map, she sighed. Biting her lip, Alexeyeva said that she would like to think about signing the agreement.

"I understand what you must be going through," General Carter told the Russian.

"You can make your decision in the briefing room next door if you'd like,"

"I would, General," Alexeyeva told the General.

She stood up and walked over to the next room with the folder under her arm.

The Russian took the seat next to the center one, speculating that the center belonged to the General. She could feel eyes upon her when she noticed several Airmen were standing guard in the room, which had made her even more uncomfortable. Not only that, but she also found that the window behind her was protected by a steel barrier, blocking the entire view for what ever was behind it.

After opening the page that asked for a signature, Alexeyeva took hold of the pen and clicked it. Before she could sign, however, her hand began to shake. An instinct, that had saved her life more than once, was telling her something wasn't right. Of course, she already knew this, with all the secrecy. The Russian eyed the General, who was still in the other room, talking on the phone. Eavesdropping, she heard what the General was saying.

"…Sir…I'm confident that Lieutenant Colonel Alexeyeva is the best candidate for the program…Sir…I want to be honest with you sir…this is my project and I think I entitled to choose who I want and I'm sure General Landry agrees with me,"

Alexeyeva raised an eyebrow as she continued to listen.

"…It wasn't my choice to become base commander in the first place sir…yes, I understand, thank you sir,"

Then Carter hanged up.

Before the General could notice that she was watching, Alexeyeva quickly looked back onto her paper. Carter entered the briefing room to find the Lieutenant Colonel still looking at the paper.

"I thought you were going to think about it." She said to the Russian, noticing that the pen was about to strike paper. Alexeyeva simply shrugged, unsure of how to answer.

"I'm still trying to understand what will happen to me if I agree to all this," She replied.

"I'm sure it'll be worth your while," Carter commented.

Alexeyeva agreed and took one last look at the paper.

"I want to be clear, General," The Russian began. "If I don't like what I find, I will respectively ask for my leave,"

"I'm sure that can be arranged Colonel…but at least give it a try," Carter replied.

Alexeyeva nodded, pressing her pen against the signature line.

"This one's for history," The Russian said, signing her name for what would eventually become the rest of her life.


	6. Welcome to Stargate Command

Chapter 6: Welcome to Stargate Command

Cheyenne Mountain Complex

09:50 A.M

Alexeyeva handed the folder to General Carter, who sighed in relief.

"I thought I was going to have to spend a few days trying to convince you, but I'm glad I didn't have to Lieutenant Colonel," She told the Russian.

"I'm glad you could join us." Alexeyeva nodded, not understanding what the General meant.

"Us?" She asked.

"I'd like to show you something," Carter replied, walking over to the covered window. After pressing a button combination on the numpad next to the window, the steel barrier lifted. Upon seeing what was behind the window, the Lieutenant Colonel nearly lost her breath. One floor below, the two could see a round stone device, covered with symbols that the Lieutenant Colonel didn't recognize. She looked over to the General, with wide eyes.

"We call it a Stargate." General Carter said to the confused Russian.

"What exactly does this…'Stargate' do?" Alexeyeva asked as she and Carter walked down the spiral steps into the control room.

"It's an interplanetary portal that transports matter from one world to another instantly," The General replied as the two looked through the control room window, at the gate. The Russian shook her head. She would have guessed that the Stargate could have been a museum piece, a relic, had she not been told.

"Impossible," She heard herself say.

In her mind, however, she believed in things far more absurd. Carter looked at the Russian, whom was still staring at the gate in awe. "Come on, I'll give the tour," She said, leading the visitor past the control room.

The two exited through the back entrance, finding an elevator and a desk with a guard sitting behind it. Turning right down another corridor, Alexeyeva noticed that the floor and walls had color-coded lines stretching into the hallways. Just before Carter was about to explain the early history of the SGC's operations, the two saw a man bump into another, causing the other to drop a folder in which papers went falling onto the floor. "Ah, what the hell, Witkowski?" The second man asked, bending down to pick up his papers. "Did you not see me?"

The first, a tall, clean shaven man, of African descent, rolled his eyes.

"Well excuse me sunshine," He called out in a British accent. "Some of us happen to be in a rush these days," The other man, older, scoffed.

"If you're gonna act like an ass, Witty, then act like one while helping me out,"

"Yeah right, Griff, I'm not in SG-2 anymore, you're not my boss." The first man replied. The other man, Colonel Michael Griff, stood up and got in the first man's face.

"Lemme tell ya something, Witkowski," He began, poking his finger on Witkowski's chest. "You weren't just in SG-2…you led it in my absence and just because you did lead it don't mean you're MY boss, got me, Major?"

The first man backed away, arms up in defense.

"No need to be so fired up mate," He said, helping Griff pick up the papers.

"Those files had my recommendation for your transfer into that new team the General was creating," Griff added.

At that point, Carter intervened.

"For a position as second in command, Major Witkowski," She began.

The two men turned their attention to the commanding officer.

"General Carter, Ma'am," The two said, saluting.

"At ease, gentlemen," Carter replied.

After a few seconds of silence, Witkowski raised an eyebrow when he recognized the Lieutenant Colonel's uniform.

"Who's the Russian?" He asked the General.

"Lieutenant Colonel Natasha Alexeyeva," The General answered. "She was just transferred from the Vega Group of the Russian FSB,"

The two men raised an eyebrow.

"Vega group?" Griff asked, sorting his papers. "The hell is that?"

"Have you heard of Vympel, sir?" Alexeyeva asked.

"Wait, wait, wait," Witkowski cut in, approaching the Russian. "Are you trying to tell me that you're Spetsnaz?"

Alexeyeva refrained from saying anything further in hopes of having the question dropped. This, however, agitated the British solider.

"Can't say anything, can ya love?" He asked, backing away. "Of course you're not Special Forces…you're in a bloody arm cast for heaven's sake,"

"That's enough, Major," Carter cut in. "Show some respect,"

"Apologies, General," Witkowski said, leaving the three behind.

"The nerve of that kid," Griff commented, eyeing the Major's leave.

He then turned to the Russian.

"Don't worry about him though, he'll shut up when you take charge,"

"What's that supposed to mean, sir?" Alexeyeva asked.

Griff glanced at Carter, who shook her head, then back to the Russian.

"I'm sure General Carter will fill you in," Then Griff took his leave.

Alexeyeva looked at the General funny.

"Take charge?" She asked the General.

Carter smiled.

"Come on, Colonel, I'll show you around." She said, leading the Russian on the tour of Stargate Command.

An hour later, the General finally led the Russian to the medical bay.

"You'd be surprised how many times we had to use this room," Carter said to the Russian. "And how many didn't make it,"

Alexeyeva was confused.

"Why are we here?" She asked.

"You have a broken arm," Carter replied.

"And?" Alexeyeva asked again.

"We can fix it,"

"How?"

"Have a seat on one of the beds," General Carter replied.

Alexeyeva nodded and took a seat on the closet bed to her.

Carter went another direction with a doctor to a wall which, to Alexeyeva's observation, had a safe.

After Carter unlocked the safe, she removed a tray and carried it over to the Russian. Carter pulled out a small device with a larger round, flat crystal embedded in the center. "What is that?" Alexeyeva asked, referring to the object.

"It's a Goa'uld Healing Device," Carter answered.

"And this device can fix my bones, da?" Alexeyeva asked, sounding skeptical.

"It can do more than just 'heal bones'," The Doctor, Carolyn Lam, said, placing her hands in her pockets.

"Good to know," The Russian replied.

"Alright, you can take off the cast," Dr. Lam said to the Lieutenant Colonel.

Alexeyeva slipped the cast off her arm and immediately felt as if stabbed. She cursed trying to cope with the pain. Thankfully, she was cursing in Russian.

"Easy, Colonel," Carter said to the solider, placing the healing device over the Russian's arm. "All the pain will be gone,"

At the same time the device became active, Alexeyeva could feel the pain fade away. "How is she doing that?" She asked Dr. Lam.

"The device can only be used by the Gou'ald or former hosts," The Doctor explained. "It has to do with the naquadah in their blood." "Wait," Alexeyeva interrupted, forgetting that the doctor dodged her question. "Who, or what, are Gou'alds?"

"Parasites…they get into you through the mouth or the back of the neck, taking you over completely." Carter explained, albeit simply put.

Alexeyeva didn't answer. She couldn't actually, being shocked with the information. The very thought of something jumping into her mouth and going into her head, therefore controlling her, made the woman shiver.

"Alright, Colonel, try to move your arm." Lam said to the Russian.

Alexeyeva nodded and slowly extended her arm. She expected pain but even as her arm was fully extended, she felt nothing. Proceeding to move her fingers, Alexeyeva noticed that the two other women were smiling.

"Thank you," She said to them.

Lam raised an eyebrow.

"You don't sound all that happy?" She commented.

"What can I say Doctor," Alexeyeva replied. "We're trained to not be hysterical,"

The doctor and the General nodded.

"They told me that it would be about a month before I could use my arm," Alexeyeva continued, slipping off the bed. "That little toy of yours would have saved countless lives had it been used in the battlefield,"

Carter laughed a bit, finding it amusing that the Colonel, despite being Special Forces, was naïve.

"If we could find a way to distribute enough devices without anyone noticing, that would be great,"

"So you have only this one, da?" Alexeyeva asked.

"Just the one," Carter verified.

Alexeyeva nodded, nothing more she could come up with to ask.

"And in case you were wondering, Colonel," Lam added. "It's not powerful enough to bring back the dead,"

"Shame," The Colonel mumbled as Dr. Lam took the device back to the safe.

"Sam!" A man said as he walked into the infirmary.

"Daniel," Carter replied.

After taking a glance at the woman leaning back onto the bed, the man pressed his glasses back onto the bridge of his nose.

"Uh, right, Daniel, this is Lieutenant Colonel Natasha Alexeyeva," Carter began. "Alexeyeva, this is-"

"Doctor Daniel Jackson," Alexeyeva finished the General's sentence, shaking hands with the man.

"You've heard of me?" Daniel asked.

Alexeyeva nodded.

"Of course, my sister never stopped talking about you," She said.

"In college, my sister studied archeology as a major,"

"That's interesting," Daniel replied.

"You really got a strong grip," He added, feeling the Russian's healed hand's strength. Daniel let go of the Russian's hand, ending the handshake.

"Your English is very good too," Daniel commented.

"Spasheba," Alexeyeva replied. Thank You.

"So, Daniel," Carter began.

Daniel raised an eyebrow just before realizing why he came to the General.

"Oh, right," He began. He was about to continue when he realized the Russian's presence. "Should I say anything," He asked the General.

She raised an eyebrow. Daniel tapped his fingers on the journal he was carrying.

"You know…" He nudged his head towards Alexeyeva's direction.

"Oh, of course, she already signed the agreement," Carter spoke quickly.

Daniel nodded, in relief, and then continued.

"The naquadah deposits we found on P3Z-597 are actually depleted,"

"Well, that's unfortunate," Carter replied.

Daniel nodded but continued anyway.

"But that's just it…it was rich almost a month ago."

"What are you saying Daniel," Carter asked. "Someone else got to it?"

"That's what I'm thinking," Daniel answered.

"I'm sorry," Alexeyeva asked.

The other two looked at the Russian.

"But what is naquadah?"

It was another half hour before the tour ended with a visit to the gate room. Carter waited at the base of the ramp while Alexeyeva walked up to the Stargate itself. She pressed her left hand against the symbols on the device.

"It took us fifteen years and three super computers to MacGyver a system to get the Stargate to open," Carter explained.

Alexeyeva looked back at the General in confusion.

"MacGyver?" She asked.

"Or Jury Rig it," Carter replied.

The blast door to the left opened and a man with thin gray hair and a blue jumpsuit approached the General.

"SG-1 and 2 are ready to go, Ma'am," He said to her.

Carter nodded and signaled the Russian to come back. The man introduced himself to the Russian. "Chief Master Sergeant Walter Harriman," He said to her.

"Sergeant," Alexeyeva replied, walking down the ramp.

"So what do you think of the Stargate so far?" Harriman asked.

Alexeyeva shrugged. "It appeared bigger from upstairs," She replied, following the General out of the room.

Harriman was taken aback a bit, confused. Just before the Russian and the General disappeared into the halls, Walter realized that he should have welcomed the Russian anyway.

"Welcome to Stargate Command," He called out.


	7. Back to FNG

Chapter 7: Back to F.N.G

Cheyenne Mountain Complex

12:10 P.M

"You must have a purpose for bringing me here," Alexeyeva said to Carter.

"Of course I do," Carter replied, smiling.

The two continued down the hall, back tracking up stairs to the briefing room.

"The U.N wanted the SGC to include them for off-world activities." Carter began. "Diplomatic missions, mining operations, that sort of thing,"

"And what about the other P-5 nations?" Alexeyeva asked.

"The U.S and Russia have been operating the Stargate program for quite a while but China, France and the U.K had only begun about nine years ago,"

"Wait," Alexeyeva cut in, not believing the General's words.

"Did you say both the U.S and Russia have been operating missions through the Stargate, General?"

Carter nodded.

Alexeyeva couldn't say more as she was still stunned by shock and disbelief that her own country knew about this all along.

"Where are we going now?" Alexeyeva asked.

"I want you to meet someone," Carter replied, opening the door to her office.

Once inside, Alexeyeva and Carter found a man standing before the desk, waiting for the two to return.

"Lieutenant Colonel, this is Lieutenant General Kerrigan," Carter said, introducing the two.

"Sir," Alexeyeva replied.

"Colonel," Kerrigan said to the Russian.

"Before you go off world, leading a team-" Carter was cut off.

"Wait, wait…" Alexeyeva interrupted.

"I think you should allow the General to finish, Colonel," Kerrigan interrupted the Russian.

Alexeyeva, reluctant to let go of the argument, paused so that Carter could continue.

"Colonel, you'll be working with a new set of recruits and you will be working with them for one month, after that you'll be assigned as Commanding Officer of SG-26," She said to the Russian.

"I have spent sixteen years in service to my country, General, my record shows for it," Alexeyeva replied.

The other two, for a moment, interpreted that the Russian was referring to the visible scars on her face, but they didn't know until later that they were wrong.

"You were trained in counter-terrorism and hostage rescue, Colonel," Kerrigan replied. "Impressive, yes, but are you trained in diplomacy?" Alexeyeva hadn't said anything.

"What about encountering alien threats, foothold situations perhaps?" Silence lingered on the Colonel's lips.

"As expected," Kerrigan added. "You leave in an hour for the Training Grounds."

The Next Day…

Undisclosed Stargate Command Training Grounds, Colorado

09:30 A.M

The heat and light of the sun beaming onto her face forced her eyes to slowly open. She rotated her head completely to the left, looking at a downward angle, and found a woman, with scars across her face, doing push ups. The woman was cursing in Russian, complaining how she damned the American who made her take a training course for something she didn't need to be trained for a second time. Of course, the woman on the bed didn't understand anything the Russian was saying. After returning to her slumber, the woman felt the other slip unto the bed underneath hers.

"Mne ne nuzhna trenirovkam e-shore raz," The Russian mumbled. 'I don't need training again.'

The other woman, the one sleeping over the Russian, slipped her head upside down over the bed to have view of the woman lying on the one under hers.

"What cha sayin, ma'am?" She asked the Russian.

Alexeyeva, whose eyes were closed and arms behind her head, opened them once more to find the woman, with a smile and black hair dangling, looking at her.

"It's nothing," She replied, turning her head away.

"Would you like to talk about it?" The other woman asked.

Alexeyeva scoffed before sitting up on the bed.

"If you insist," She said to the other.

"Well," The other began. "I don't wanna make ya talk about it if you don't want to,"

Alexeyeva shrugged.

"I do not see the point in trying to avoid your question." She said, resting her arms on her knees.

"What's on your mind, ma'am?" The other woman asked.

"Being sent here makes me feel like…as Americans say: F.N.G," The Russian began. "I spent over a decade and a half serving my country with duty, pride and patriotism, earning enough experience to last two lifetimes…now you Americans think everyone needs 'retraining' for some mission on other planets."

"I'm not American, Ma'am,"

"Of course not, you're from Canada, da?"

"How do you know?"

"Your accent,"

"Wow…you're good," The other woman commented. "Few people actually realize, without me telling them, that I'm Canadian,"

Alexeyeva nodded.

"What's your name young lady?" She asked.

"Private Williams, Noa, nice to meet you…" The Canadian paused as she extended her hand to the Russian.

"Podpolkovnik Alexeyeva,"

The Canadian was confused.

"Uh…"

"Lieutenant Colonel," The Russian clarified, shaking hands with the Canadian. "Natasha Alexeyeva,"

"You can't be serious," Williams stated.

"About what,"

"You being a Lieutenant Colonel…no wonder you're so pissed being here…ma'am,"

"We should go, Private Williams," Alexeyeva said, the bed squeaked as she got off, grabbing her issued SG olive green jacket. "Wake up call should be about….."

Then a trumpet began playing the traditional American Military wake up tune.

The first day of Stargate Operations Training was nothing special, Alexeyeva noticed. She expected to see a drill instructor barking orders at her and the other three recruits. Instead, she found three people, whose patches identified them as SG-1, two men and a woman. One of the men she already met with the day earlier, Daniel Jackson. The other two, when she met them last night, Colonel Mitchell, the commanding officer of SG-1 and Vala Mal Doran, an alien who had joined the team a few years earlier.

"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen," Mitchell began. "You've been selected as the best and brightest we have at the moment,"

He then pointed at the track where the recruits were to jog for the morning.

"Four laps, then report to me for today's assignment." Mitchell finished.

The recruits saluted and then began their jog around the track. It was no surprise that the Russian took the lead in the run. During this run, Alexeyeva thought back to everything that had transpired in the last few days.

Her father always told her that fate is nothing more than a linear path in one's life._ "Remember, Natasha,"_ He once said to her when she was only thirteen.

"_Everything that you do, or anyone else for that matter, is what is supposed to happen,"_ He paused, taking a deep breath.

_"Who lives and who dies, it's all part of god's plan,"_

_"Is that how the Soviet Union was lost,"_ The young Natasha asked.

The look on her father's face was grim. But at the last moment, he smiled.

_"The Union of the Socialist Soviet Republic was doomed from the start," _He stated. "_Perhaps one day you will understand how fate works," _

Perhaps fate called upon her to become something more than just a Russian solider this time around.

"All of a sudden you slow down, ma'am," A voice behind the Russian crashed her train of thoughts.

Alexeyeva looked back to find Private Williams jogging next to her. The other recruits were already ahead of the two of them.

"My apologies, Private Williams," The Russian began, deferring her response.

"I did not realize I was being distracted,"

"You seemed deep in thought," Williams added.

The Russian nodded.

"I was," She said. "You have quite a perception, young lady,"

"Yes ma'am," The Canadian replied. "I have to…especially when I'm involved with EOD,"

The Russian nearly lost her step, almost tripping. She stopped so she could swallow the information she was just given.

"Did you say," Alexeyeva began, breathless. "EOD?"

The Canadian stopped a few meters ahead of the Russian. She looked back and shrugged.

"What, Explosive Ordinance Disposal?" She asked the confused Russian.

Alexeyeva nodded, feeling sweat trickling down her cheeks. "

You can not be more than twenty-five years of age, Private." She finally said, after catching her breath.

"Twenty-one," Williams corrected.

Alexeyeva nodded again.

"I sincerely doubt you would be allowed to handle explosives," She added.

"Of course they wouldn't Ma'am," Williams replied as the two resumed their jog. "I only handle with the robot that goes in to disarm IEDs."

Then she thought for a moment.

"But there was that one time our disposal guy was shot and I had to don the suit in his place." Williams added.

Alexeyeva shook her head.

"Bosa moy," She breathed. 'Oh my god'. "And you disarmed a bomb that could have killed you?"

"Of course," Williams replied proudly. "I just don't know how a bomb disposer is gonna be useful, ya know,"

"So here's your first training scenario," Mitchell said, ten minutes later. "There's a Gou'ald explosive device inside the warehouse."

Mitchell pointed at the floor plan of the warehouse on the board.

"Your objective is to disarm it and then retrieve the device." He continued. "We don't know how many hostiles will be there or whether or not the device is armed."

Alexeyeva leaned forward in her chair. Looking to her left, she noticed Private Williams leaning back into her seat, her optimistic attitude undeterred from the briefing. To her right, Alexeyeva noticed the two other recruits, both of which were United States Marines, were paying close attention to what the man up front was saying. Yet at the same time, she realized that they were all bored as she was. Alexeyeva figured that it was perhaps because they were already trained and didn't want any more of it. She felt the same yet she continued to look interested into the practice scenario that was handed to her like she was when she was a fresh enlisted solider sixteen years earlier.


	8. The Long Walk

Chapter 8: The Long Walk

Undisclosed Stargate Command Training Grounds, Colorado

12:26 P.M

After Mitchell gave the briefing, Alexeyeva was assigned as 'Captain' of the team. Just as much as the Marines, the Russian hated the idea.

"Colonel, sir," She began when she was assigned the position. "I'm overqualified for this task,"

"Are you bragging?" Mitchell asked.

"I'm saying that someone else should be given the opportunity to place their leadership abilities in this test," Alexeyeva corrected. "I'm willing to follow anyone in the position."

"Leadership is action, not position," Mitchell replied.

The two knew this quote well and without further contest, Alexeyeva reluctantly accepted her role as leader.

At the armory, the four recruits were going through the weapons that were placed there. There was nothing but HK MP5s, flashbangs, smoke grenades, thermal goggles and a thermal detector.

"Wow," Williams commented. "Haven't seen these toys out in the field in years,"

Alexeyeva nodded before examining the ammunition. To her surprise, when she inspected the shells, she found that the actual bullet was glowing red.

"If this is any indication," She said to her fellow recruits, showing her findings. "I can see why,"

"And why is it that the ammo is glowing?" One of the marines asked Mitchell.

"Stun bullets, also known as Intars," Mitchell answered.

"And what do these…Intars do?" Alexeyeva asked.

"Have you played paintball, Lieutenant Colonel?" Mitchell asked.

Even though Alexeyeva never played the sport, she knew what it was like and answered as such.

"It works something like that," Mitchell added. "And these specific MP5s, plus the Beretta M9s, are the only compatible firearms we have that use the Intars."

"Good to know," The Russian replied.

"If this scenario is bomb disposal, why is there no bomb suit, sir?" Williams asked.

"You didn't find one," Mitchell replied, confused.

"No sir,"

"Then it must be in the back, follow me,"

Mitchell led Williams to the back of the armory and found a small metal create. After opening, Mitchell allowed Williams to take out the bomb suit.

"Neato," She said in excitement, after she brought up the suit. "This has got to be the ABS,"

"Yep, the Advanced Bomb Suit, just got it shipped the other week,"

"It's perfect," Williams said.

Mitchell chuckled.

"You sound like as if you got a prom dress you always wanted." He commented.

Williams smiled.

"Girls my age love dresses, so do I," She began. "But if I had to choose, my heart belongs with the bomb suit,"

"You must have really loved that first 'long walk', Private Williams," Alexeyeva said to her, arming one of the MP5s she was given.

"To be honest ma'am," Williams replied. "The suit gives better protection than a dress,"

"Yes, but it makes you slow and look like a fat ass," One of the Marines joked.

"At least it keeps me alive," Williams replied, irritated.

When the team realized that there would hostiles in the training as well, during the initial briefing, they decided to make use of all the equipment they could carry on them. As they looked over the map of the warehouse and surrounding area, one of the Marines proposed his plan.

"I say we try to lure out as many of the tangos as possible before moving in," He began. "After we thin them out, we send in the 'Juggernaut' to take care of the device."

"I like that plan," Mitchell said, somewhat sarcastically.

"Nyet, that is a terrible idea," Alexeyeva began.

The others looked at the Russian, confused.

"We try to flush them out, Marine," Alexeyeva began. "We risk seeing the bulk of their resistance…as well as loosing ourselves in the process,"

"So what do you have in mind?" The other Marine asked.

"Private Williams can not possibly be combat effective with the bomb suit if we miss any hostiles," Alexeyeva began. "It should be a two person team that goes in to disarm the device, Williams included."

"So who goes in?" Mitchell asked.

"I will," Alexeyeva answered.

"Ah hell no," The first marine said. "I don't exactly trust ya to actually be helpful, Ivan, besides we need the CO alive for further orders,"

"It's not about trust, it's about ability," Alexeyeva began, approaching the Marine. "I need you and the other to do your duty and protect our escape when we leave with the device."

She breathed heavily before continuing.

"As for 'Ivan'…I suggest you drop it, you're too young to remember the _kholodnaya voĭna_ anyway,"

"The Cold War?" Williams asked for clarification.

Alexeyeva nodded and the Marine shrugged.

"Alright scarface," He said. "We'll play comrades for now, don't forget to give em hell too,"

The team, including Mitchell, picked up their weapons and equipment.

"Are you joining us, Colonel Mitchell?" Alexeyeva asked her instructor.

"Yep," Mitchell replied. "Let's see how that Spetsnaz training is gonna help you,"

Alexeyeva nodded at the man's reply. She then turned to Williams.

"The Marines and I will help get you into that bomb suit, Private," The Russian said to the Canadian. "Then we're taking a 'long walk',"

Williams was sweating as she followed the team. Even without the helmet on her head, the suit itself was stressful enough on her body. The team descended a set of stairs down a hill, towards the testing field. Mitchell himself was impressed with the team's rigorous attitude and not asking redundant questions about how many hostiles are in the area or if there would be hostages. The team knew they would have to adapt as fast as the changing scenario so answers had become useless to them. Upon reaching the base of the stairs, the team moved in a crouching position towards a destroyed car. Alexeyeva and Mitchell looked over the wreckage, finding the warehouse several hundred meters ahead.

"The effective range of an MP5 would be about two-hundred meters, da," Alexeyeva recited the characteristics of her weapon.

"For this model, yeah that would be about right," Mitchell replied.

Alexeyeva took out her binoculars and used it to determine whether or not their primary entry and exit point was feasible.

"How far do you think we are from the entrance?" She asked Mitchell.

"Don't know, could be…four hundred meters," He guessed.

Alexeyeva sighed deeply, shaking her head.

"Da, that's not good," She said. "We'll have to move closer if you and the Marines have any chance of hitting pursuers,"

She turned her head to face the Marines and the 'Juggernaut'. She noticed how much sweat was beating down the Canadian's brow.

"Don't worry, Private," Alexeyeva said to her. "You'll be sweating much more when under the pressure of imminent death." She joked with a chuckle.

No one followed in the laughter of the Russian's dark humor.

"That wasn't funny, ma'am" Williams replied.

"Of course it wasn't, I just made that up," Alexeyeva replied.

"That wasn't what I meant ma'am," Williams commented.

Alexeyeva sighed.

"But none the less it's true," She added. "You can not allow yourself to be distracted once we find that weapon, do you understand?"

The Canadian nodded.

"Understood ma'am," She said, picking up her tool box. "No pressure,"

Alexeyeva nodded then faced one of the marines.

"Is the thermal detector working?" She asked him.

"It's up and running," The Marine replied.

"Good," Alexeyeva said, slipping her pair of combat goggles over her eyes and moving forward from the wreckage.

The plan was that once Alexeyeva and Williams enter the warehouse, the others would use the thermal detector to alert the two of any incoming opposition. Even the Marines were impressed with the Russian's clairvoyance with tactics and ingenuity and this marked up points for her eventual placement as SG-26s first Commanding Officer.

"Move up," She said through the throat microphone, signaling the others to follow.

The team followed the Russian, slowly and still in a crouching stance, through the junk yard.

"Remember," The Russian said, looking back. "No rushing,"

One of the marine nearly burst in laughter, as if he had caught onto a bad reference.

"Da, Da, I know where that came from," Alexeyeva replied, agitated.

The team's advance towards the entrance had gone without complications, of course that would all change once they passed the doorway. The team split into two teams as they approached the entrance. Alexeyeva and Williams took one side while Mitchell and the Marines took the other. The plan, as Alexeyeva had detailed, would have Mitchell throw a flashbang first and then Alexeyeva would throw a smoke grenade. The idea was to disorientate the enemies' sense of direction. If it was successful, Alexeyeva could easily tag any enemies with the Intar ammunition and escort Williams to the bomb site.

Before the plan went into effect, Alexeyeva helped Williams with putting on the helmet.

"Remember what I said," The Russian said to her companion.

Williams gave a thumb up.

"_About the pressure thing, ma'am?" _Williams asked through the radio.

"Da, Private," The Russian answered, switching her weapon to semi-automatic.

"No matter what happens, I'm there to pull you out,"

"_Good to know,"_ The Canadian mumbled.

The two hugged the wall as Mitchell and Alexeyeva pulled out their respective grenades. The Russian scoffed quietly. It a situation like this, it would be her and Sergeant Balashov to do the special breach that was taught to them. Now it was just her who would be teaching it to the commander of SG-1 and the recruits that were there with them.

Alexeyeva and Mitchell peeked past the door way and found a number of silhouettes moving about. Giving a countdown, the two pulled the pins of their grenades. When Alexeyeva signaled, the two tossed the grenades into the warehouse, hearing a bang then smoke filling the room. Alexeyeva turned to the 'Juggernaut' and nodded her head.

"Let's go, Private," She said, slipping her thermal goggles over her combat ones, followed by the woman in the bomb suit.

With the thermal goggles, Alexeyeva 'dispatched' several enemies with the MP5.

"_Tango at your ten o'clock high,"_ One of the Marines said through the radio.

Alexeyeva looked up and found a hostile aiming his weapon. Bringing her gun towards the silhouette and pulled the trigger twice. The enemy went down and the two women continued through the warehouse. Alexeyeva looked back to make sure Williams was behind her. She noticed that she was lagging behind, disorientated.

"Hold onto me, Private," Alexeyeva said, grabbing the 'Juggernaut's hand.

Extending the stock of her MP5, Alexeyeva used her left arm to carefully aim the weapon.

"_Tango to your right,"_

Alexeyeva aimed her weapon to that direction and fired a single round into the hostile, who fell to the ground.

"_The smoke is dispersing,"_ Williams said to the Lieutenant Colonel.

Alexeyeva nodded, raising the thermal goggles over her head. The two let go and Alexeyeva was able to shoot her MP5 with both hands once more.

"_Damn, Ivan,"_ One of the Marines commented through the radio. "_You're just mowing them down as they keep coming," _

"I could do more if you only spoke when needed, marine," Alexeyeva replied. "I would appreciate that,"

"_She's right,"_ Mitchell replied. "_You're almost clear of bad guys, Lieutenant Colonel, keep at it,"_

"Please Colonel," Alexeyeva began. "I beg of you, I need concentration, I'm sure no one ever won a war being distracted,"

"_Right, sorry, sorry,"_ Mitchell replied.

"_Tango, six o'clock,"_ The other marine called out.

Alexeyeva rushed behind the 'Juggernaut' and saw the enemy approaching. Aiming for a few seconds, Alexeyeva shot down the hostile.

"_Nice reflexes,"_ The marine praised.

Alexeyeva shook her head as she reloaded her MP5.

"I must be speaking in Russian," She said to Williams.

The 'Juggernaut' shrugged.

"_Don't know ma'am, must be Russglish you're saying,"_ She said with a laugh.

Alexeyeva nodded and the two continued through the warehouse.

"Are we approaching the device, Colonel Mitchell?" The Russian asked.

"_Twenty meters into the next room, Lieutenant Colonel,"_ Mitchell replied.

Alexeyeva turned her head to the 'Juggernaut' behind her. She could already see through the helmet that the woman was sweating.

"Keep calm, Private," Alexeyeva said to her. "We'll make it,"

The two passed the doorway into the next room. To their surprise, they found the bomb, but they also found two people. One was on the ground and the other was standing over the first. They were not hostile, Alexeyeva interpreted. The one standing had a weapon that Alexeyeva did not recognize. It appeared to resemble a snake, but she could not be sure. The other had a Berretta M9. Since they were pointing their weapons at one another however, it could not be determined if either of them was friend or foe. Yet Alexeyeva and Williams still recognized the two. The one on the ground was Daniel Jackson and the other was Vala Mal Doran.

"What is this," Alexeyeva began, approaching the two, keeping her weapon aimed.

"It turns out that Daniel here is a Gou'ald spy," Mal Doran explained to the Russian, keeping her weapon pointed at Jackson.

"No," Jackson replied. "She's the spy,"

"Impossible, you both were just with us during the briefing." Alexeyeva replied.

She remembered reading that the Gou'ald hosts had a deepened voice that would have sounded as if they had an auto tune over their mouths.

"A Gou'ald would have a different voice, am I correct?" Alexeyeva asked.

Mal Doran laughed at the Russian's naïve question.

"You clearly don't know how things work with the Gou'ald, do you Lieutenant Colonel." She replied.

Alexeyeva and Williams were confused. Mal Doran shot a look at the two then back to Jackson.

"These spies, infiltrators, can hide their true voices from their enemies as so to not attract attention," She explained. "Not to mention that he is also the one who armed the device,"

"What, no!" Jackson called out. "That was so you,"

"_Lieutenant Colonel, what's the hold up?"_ Mitchell asked.

Alexeyeva lowered her weapon so she could answer the transmission.

"This is no longer just a bomb threat, Colonel Mitchell," She replied.

"_Say again,"_ Mitchell asked.

"We have a hostage situation as well," Alexeyeva answered. "What's more is that one or both of them could be a potential enemy hiding among the hostages."

"_So what are you going to do?"_ Mitchell asked.

As Alexeyeva tried to think of a reply. The silence allowed the beeping of the device to advertise itself as armed. The Russian eyed the two people before her and Williams, staying calm, and was deciding what would be her next move.

"What we, soldiers, are trained to do," Alexeyeva finally replied, eyeing the bomb behind Jackson and Val Doran.

"_And that would be?"_ Williams asked.

Alexeyeva backed towards the 'Juggernaut'.

"They're both lying," She said to the woman in the bomb suit. "_How can you be sure?"_ "I'm not…but we still must disarm them both,"

"_Good idea,_ Williams replied sarcastically. "_And how are we going to do that?"_

"Get behind Jackson, and when I give the signal, take his weapon anyway you can…just don't get anyone shot,"

Alexeyeva slowly creped behind Mal Doran while Williams got behind Jackson.

"What the hell are you doing?" The man on the floor asked.

"NOW!" Alexeyeva yelled before grabbing Mal Doran's weapon as Williams dove to the floor, snatching Jackson's gun in the process.

"Disarmed," Alexeyeva announced.

"_Disarmed here too,"_ Williams added, struggling to get back up.

The Russian came to the 'Juggernaut's aid and helped her get back to her feet.

"What the hell was that for?" Mal Doran asked.

Alexeyeva pointed to the bomb.

"Private, see to the weapon, we don't have a lot of time," She said, ignoring the unarmed woman behind her.

The 'Juggernaut' nodded.

"_Yes Ma'am,"_ She said, going for the device.

"As for you two," The Russian said to the others, training her weapon at them. "Wait in the corner like good children."

Williams examined the device after setting down the tool box.

"Come on babe," She said, referring to the weapon. "Show me the good stuff,"

She managed to find a loose panel and slowly removed it from its place.

"That's more like it," Williams added, examining the insides of the device.

"_How's my EOD expert doing, facing death in the eye, eh?"_ Williams heard her partner's voice and laugh through the earpiece.

"I'd be smiling too but we got a problem ma'am," Williams replied.

"_I'm listening."_

"There are only crystals here, red, green, blue, and yellow and my tool kit doesn't include anything that has to do with crystal removal,"

"_Had they been wires, it'd be just like in those American Hollywood films, da?"_ Alexeyeva commented.

"No kidding, I'm gonna have to pull out one of the crystals if we can't find the disarm codes," Williams explained.

"_Guess it's my turn, da?"_

"Yes ma'am,"

Williams continued to further examine the other parts of the device.

"_I will make this very clear,"_ Williams heard Alexeyeva say to the others.

"One or both of you had armed this weapon," Alexeyeva continued. "This bomb must have a shutdown code of some sort and someone knows it,"

"There isn't one," Mal Doran replied.

Alexeyeva, suspicious, aims her attention at the alien.

"How would you know?" She asked.

"I had already checked it when Daniel attacked me," Mal Doran replied.

"No I did not," Jackson commented, seemingly annoyed.

"Well then," Alexeyeva said, eyeing Jackson. "It seems that Dr. Jackson will have to -"

Alexeyeva was cut off when Mal Doran tried to grab the Russian's weapon. With a single shove back, the Russian shot Mal Doran between the eyes. She fell to the ground, motionless. Alexeyeva proceeded to remove Jackson's weapon from her vest and handed it back to him.

"How'd you know it wasn't me?" Jackson asked, taking the pistol.

"I didn't," Alexeyeva replied. "She attacked first,"

The Russian began to walk back to Williams.

"True, but you're wrong about one thing," Daniel's voice began to change.

Alexeyeva stopped and looked back at Jackson, wide-eyed.

"**She wasn't the spy,"** Daniel's voice was completely different now. "**I am,"**

Jackson began to raise his weapon. But before he could pull the trigger, Alexeyeva shot his hand and his right leg, forcing him down.

"Terribly sorry, Dr. Jackson," Alexeyeva began with a calm voice, approaching Jackson with caution.

"But if what Vala Mal Doran said was true about there being no code…then that would leave the crystals."

"**Are you going to kill me?"** Daniel asked.

The Russian shook her head.

"Answer my next question and it won't come to that," She replied. "Which crystal should be removed?"

Daniel said nothing.

"_This thing is gonna blow!"_ Williams yelled over the radio.

Alexeyeva could feel her hands shaking, knowing she might 'die' and fail the test. She glared at Jackson, who was still on the ground.

"You want to live?" She said to him. "You give me the color,"

Jackson said nothing, which had irritated the Russian even further.

Grabbing the man by the collar of his jacket, Alexeyeva raised Jackson up and shoved him onto a wall. She aimed her MP5 into Jackson's left eye.

"I won't ask again," She said calmly.

The beeping intensified, with the intervals becoming less and less.

"**Pull the green one,"** Jackson finally told the Russian.

Alexeyeva released her grip on Jackson and approached Williams.

"Green crystal!" The Russian yelled into the radio. "Pull the green one, hurry!"

Williams reached into the casing, pulled the green crystal and the timer had stopped.

"_We're clear, the bomb's been neutralized,"_ Williams spoke through the radio.

"_Good job ladies,"_ Mitchell replied. "_Not too shabby either, bring in the device, we're pulling out,"_

Alexeyeva, still keeping her weapon on Jackson, retreated back to the 'Juggernaut'.

"Not bad for a second time, nyet?" The Russian asked the Canadian.

Williams signaled Alexeyeva to pull off her helmet and the Russian did so.

"Christ," Williams spoke, gasping for air, her hair drenched with sweat.

She looked behind her and found that one person was on the ground and another with his hands up.

"Thanks for covering my butt ma'am," The 'Juggernaut' said to her commander.

Alexeyeva nodded, giving a thumb up.

"Come on now Private Williams," She said, returning to Jackson.

"We'll have to bring the bomb back."

"Understood ma'am, I'll get right on it," Williams replied, pulling the bomb behind her.

Alexeyeva didn't trust Jackson as much as she could. So to be safe, she used him as a human shield to make sure no one else would get to the only person who could protect Williams.

"We're heading back to the entrance Colonel," Alexeyeva said through the radio.

"_We're ready and waiting,"_ Mitchell replied.

The trio retreated back to their exit point where they met up with Mitchell and the others. To the Russian's and Canadian's surprise, Mitchell was applauding them both.

"Bravo Lieutenant Colonel," He said, clapping.

Alexeyeva saluted before turning over Jackson to the Colonel.

"And you brought back extra too," Mitchell said, facing Daniel.

"Well Jackson, you got lucky today," He said. "I'm sure would've taken that nice head off your shoulders when you showed your hand,"

Jackson shrugged, grinning. "Well," He began. "At least one of us did,"

Jackson pointed behind Williams. The others looked that direction to find Vala approaching them.

"That really hurt," She called out to the Russian.

Alexeyeva chuckled.

"Maybe you should have allowed Dr. Jackson to strike first, I'm sure he'd be more than happy to take one for you," She replied. She then turned to Jackson.

"Am I correct, Doctor?"

Jackson just shrugged.

The Russian turned her head to Williams, who was sitting next to the now disarmed device. Alexeyeva approached the 'Juggernaut' and kneeled next to her, smiling.

"You did good today, my friend," She said.

Williams gave a thumb up.

"I guess not every long walk is like this, eh?" She asked.

Alexeyeva shook her head.

"This is some way to start the training, da?" She asked.

Williams was far too exhausted from all the excitement and anxiety to answer.

"Come now," Alexeyeva said, helping Williams up. "Let's get you out of the Bomb Suit…then we all go eat some lunch,"


	9. End of the Beginning

Chapter 9: End of the Beginning

1 Month Later

Stargate Command, Colorado, USA, Earth

11:41 A.M

Colonel Cameron Mitchell walked down the food line with General Samantha Carter ahead of him. For the past four weeks, Cameron had to train his recruits to do exactly what he had been doing for almost seven years.

"So how are the new kids doing?" Sam asked the Colonel.

Cameron simply shrugged as he took a meal of his choice from the display.

"Well," He began, chuckling. "They're not really kids, one is 29 another is 27 while another is 21 and the lastly but not least the oldest is 34."

Sam looked back and smiled.

"Guess we're getting too old," She said to Cameron.

The Colonel shrugged again.

"Well, we've had the technology to make ourselves live a bit longer," He replied sarcastically. "We also can go back in time or live like the Jaffa; I mean, look at Teal'c,"

The two sat down at a table before beginning to eat.

After a few moments of chewing her salad, Sam used her plastic fork to point at her friend.

"So," She began. "What do you think of Alexeyeva so far?"

Mitchell raised an eyebrow.

"Who, the Ruski?"

Sam nodded.

Cameron chuckled before answering.

"Oh yeah, that gal," He began. "In my humble opinion, she's probably the best Spec Ops we received since General O'Neill but to be honest,"

He paused to catch his breath.

"She's also a loose cannon…she trashed one of the 'bases' used by the enemy team."

Sam was taken a back.

"How did she do that?" She asked, surprised.

Cameron looked around him to make sure that he wouldn't be overheard.

"She drove a jeep right into it, I kid you not," He spoke quietly.

Sam began laughing.

"My god," She replied. "She really did that?"

"I'm surprised that you're taking this well," Cameron commented, eyebrow raised.

Sam shook her head.

"If the objective was to 'destroy' the base, well, she did a good job of it," She answered.

It was Cameron's turn to shake his head.

"General Kerrigan almost lost it when he heard of the Russian's actions," He added.

Sam sighed, sitting back into her chair.

"Jack was right," She said. "I do know how to pick em,"

"Yeah, about that?" Cameron took the opportunity to ask.

"How in the hell did you manage to get the Russian Government to hand her over to Stargate Command?" He asked, changing the subject. Sam shrugged.

"They must have felt that they owe us one for helping them stop World War Three from happening eight years ago." She gave her theory.

Mitchell, however, did not buy it.

"That can't be the only reason," He said, leaning forward. "I'm sure there are others like her but I'm also sure that there is more ink than there are words on her file."

Sam smiled.

"You don't know the half of it, Cam," She explained. "When I first started looking at personal files to see who'd be a good candidate for SG-26, hers was the last file I saw…given to me at the last possible second."

"And?"

"She defeated Jack in terms of more classified history,"

"Well, what did you get the first time around?" Cameron inquired further.

"Well," Sam began, eating another bite. "She was born in St. Petersburg on October 14th in '79, her father served in Afghanistan during the Soviet invasion; she used to be a brunette but obviously she's a red head now,"

"That's plenty for someone like the Lieutenant Colonel," Cameron commented. "Hell, she's extremely social for someone who's got ink on their file,"

Sam shook her head. "Even her religion is classified," She replied.

"I doubt she even has one," Cameron added.

Sam raised an eyebrow.

"Commies didn't have a religion, especially in the Soviet Union," Cameron explained. "Makes ya wonder how they celebrate Christmas when there isn't one,"

Sam nodded.

"It's been a month since she started her training," She changed the subject.

"Yes, like I said," Cameron answered. "Big potential, best we got, yatta yatta yatta, still though, she had a bit of trouble with the Marine recruits early on,"

"And?" Sam asked.

"Now they're tight," Cameron answered. "Doing things that twenty years ago would have seen like complete BS,"

Sam shrugged, imagining such partnership.

"She made a request," Cameron added and Sam immediately nodded.

"The shipment is coming in the afternoon, so she'll get it when she comes back tonight,"

After the two finished their meals and placed everything where it had to be, Cameron stopped Sam one last time on the way out.

"Why wasn't the Russian placed in the IOA F.O.D instead?" He asked. "She would have made a perfect addition given her specialties,"

Sam shrugged. "The Field Operations Division has plenty of people working for the IOA…but the U.N specifically wanted a Russian on one of the new SG teams so that's what I'm doing," She explained.

Cameron shrugged once more.

"A big gain for us, I guess," He said.

"You'd guess correctly," Sam replied as the two left the cafeteria. "She did ram a base with a car after all,"

Undisclosed Stargate Command Training Grounds, Colorado

01:31 P.M

Alexeyeva and Williams were packing their things into their bags, looking back onto their month of mentally, and physically, difficult scenarios. It was during the packing when Williams had not stopped praising Alexeyeva on how incredible she was during the training missions.

"And remember that one time you drove the jeep right into the enemy's base, taking them all by surprise." She continued. "You make action movies look like a surreal piece of entertainment."

Alexeyeva shook her head.

"And for that stunt," The Russian replied. "I got suspended for a week,"

"Yes," Williams began, placing her shirts into her bag. "But you gained the respect of the Marines, that's an accomplishment worth savoring."

"Perhaps," Alexeyeva replied. "I still prefer safety over friendship…at least we're all alive in the end, da?"

The two women sat on their beds when they finished packing. Williams was reading a book while Alexeyeva was listening to music on her MP3.

"I'm surprised they allowed us to keep most of our personal belongings," She said. Williams shrugged, not taking her eyes off her book.

"Like books and IPods?" She asked.

"Da," Alexeyeva replied.

She then looked up to find the bottom of the upper bunk above her head, curious.

"What are you reading up there?" The Russian asked. "Anything good?"

"You can say that," Williams replied, flipping to the next page.

"It's War and Peace,"

Alexeyeva took out her ear buds and asked for a repeat.

"War and Peace, what, you never heard of it?" Williams asked.

"No, it's just that…that is a very long book," Alexeyeva replied. "It's interesting and I've read it a few times but still,"

Williams was about to ask her new friend how many times she had actually read the book when one of the Marines walked into the tent.

"Redding and I were about to celebrate our completion of the training," He began. "You two care to join us?"

Alexeyeva nodded and got off her bed, taking her duffle bag, followed by Williams, who had done the same.

"I gotta admit, Ivan," The Marine said to the Russian as they walked out. "For Spetsnaz, you sure know how to handle your self,"

"She rammed a jeep into a base camp," A voice said behind them.

The three looked back and found Jackson behind them.

"Bosa moy," Alexeyeva began, placing her hand over her face.

"When will this stop…it wasn't as if I had killed someone,"

"But you almost did," Jackson replied.

"Da, well, it's a good thing there aren't vehicles needed on other worlds, nyet?"

Jackson didn't reply.

"Look, Dr. Jackson," Alexeyeva began, approaching the man. "There are moments that are, as you say, textbook situations…but where I come from there are no 'textbooks', we improvise."

She took a breather.

"I came up with a plan, last minute, and I made the call to follow it…in the end, my team completed the objective and no one was injured or killed,"

"So we're going back to Stargate Command tonight?" Staff Sergeant Frank Redding asked Jackson.

At the table, the other Marine, Sergeant Jonathon Marlowe was flipping out cards for the team's first game of Texas Hold 'em.

"Yes, yes we are," Jackson replied. The cards were now passed out.

As the team played, Alexeyeva sat near by, tinkering with a guitar that she found a week earlier. Marlowe was eyeing her, seeming interested in something.

"Why are you wasting your time with that thing," He said to the Russian, who eyed back the Marine. "Can you even play?"

Alexeyeva nodded as an acknowledgment.

"Of course I can play," She replied. "

Oh, really?" Marlowe asked.

"I used to write songs and play the guitar for school concerts, before I began playing for my team when we were about to go special operations," The Russian explained. "For them, it keeps the tension low,"

The Marine shook his head with surprise.

"No shit," He commented.

Redding drew two more cards onto the center of the table.

"I'm out," Williams said, throwing her cards on the table.

"And I'm all in," Jackson added, pressing his chips forward to the center of the table.

Everyone else folded their hands except for Marlowe, whom was smiling. Alexeyeva, watching the game, raised an eyebrow, confused.

"I take it you think Doctor Jackson is bluffing," She said to the Marine.

Redding said nothing, only eyeing the archeologist. The team first glanced at the Marine then to Jackson, neither budged.

"Do you fold, doc?" Redding asked the man opposite of him.

"I dunno," The man replied, holding onto his cards. "Do you?"

Alexeyeva approached the table, curious about the stand off. Crossing her arms, she eyed Jackson's hand. To her surprise, his hand was terrible, there was no way he could win if discovered.

Vala approached the team after tending to a personal matter.

"Oh, and since when did you start without me?" She asked.

"Don't worry Vala," Jackson replied, staring down at Marlowe. "This round is almost over,"

Vala glanced at the Russian, whom was eyeing Daniel's hand.

"You know," She said to her. "If you're planning on giving Daniel away, you should really be more discreet."

Jackson turned his head and found Alexeyeva leaning on the table next to him.

"Don't worry," She said to him. "I don't normally sell people out over a game of cards,"

Jackson was taken aback.

"Somehow," He replied. "That doesn't make me feel better,"

Alexeyeva shrugged before sitting down next to the archeologist.

"Tell you what, Doctor," She said, leaning forward.

"Win the next round, and I'll play everyone some music."

"Interesting offer," Jackson replied, his eyebrow raised. "You're on,"

Vala's face lit up.

"Ooh, Russian music, can't wait to hear some of that," She said, placing her hands together.

Redding was now confused.

"I understand that you're an alien from outer space," He commented.

"But you never heard of a little something called Youtube…looking up Russian music on the internet?"

"Oh, and what is that?"

Redding slapped himself on the face.

"Ya know…I'm not even gonna bother trying to explain," He replied.

Fifteen minutes passed before the round was won. Needless to say, Jackson was the victor. As promised, Alexeyeva picked up the guitar, sat on a chair in front of her audience, and began to play. A minute into playing, Alexeyeva quietly began to sing in her native language. Despite the audience's attention to the song, only Daniel was able to translate what the Russian was saying. The melody was calm, if not peaceful, but the lyrics were violent, depicting the chaos and death in a war. Another moment later, when the music of the guitar was almost silent, the Russian began to sing about peace, fate and survival. Because of the sudden contrast, Daniel began to wonder what Natasha Alexeyeva was really like behind her combative persona.

Alexeyeva finished the last word of her song when two Humvees rolled into the training grounds. It was their ride back to Stargate Command and the excitement could be seen on Williams' face.

"I can't frikin wait to go off-world." She exclaimed.

"That is if you are assigned to an SG team quickly," The Russian pointed out, placing the guitar on the ground. Everyone grabbed their bags and approached their ride back to Cheyenne Mountain.

"Natasha," Daniel called to her.

The Russian faced the archeologist, who was signaling her to follow him.

"Mind joining me in the front car?"

"I guess I'll have to," The Russian replied, following him.

After everyone had gotten into a vehicle, they drove off.

Inside her Humvee, Alexeyeva was somewhat not surprised to find General Kerrigan in the front seat next to the driver and he wasn't happy.

"Congratulations are an order for a job well done completing your training," He said to her through the mirror.

The Russian simply shrugged, not knowing how to respond.

"Thank you General, I guess," She said sitting back into her seat.

Kerrigan's expression didn't change.

"Just so you know, Lieutenant Colonel," He added. "I have my eye on you,"

Alexeyeva shook her head.

"I know what I have done the other week," She explained. "And I don't regret doing what I did, I can't anyway,"

"Why not?" Kerrigan asked.

"Because it's in the past and I have to accept it," Alexeyeva replied.

"Besides no one was hurt or killed, am I wrong General Kerrigan?" The General ignored her last reply.

"Welcome to SG-26…I hope you choose your teammates wisely, Lieutenant Colonel, they will be stuck with you for a long while,"


	10. Inception 26

Chapter 10: Inception 26

Stargate Command, Colorado, USA, Earth

02:16 P.M

Sitting at the briefing table, Alexeyeva yawned. She hadn't felt this exhausted since her college years. Even being Spetsnaz, she had never been this tired. After returning to Stargate Command the day before, Alexeyeva was charged with finding three other members for her new team, SG-26. General Carter was by her side during each interview the Lieutenant Colonel had to go through. Alexeyeva was surprised but not impressed with the candidates she was given. Four interviews in, the Russian was baffled by the amount of scientists who attempted to convince her that they would be valuable additions, if accepted. The fifth interview was, however, a rather interesting one.

"I'm surprised it had to be your team," The man across the Russian said to her.

It was Major Milo Witkowski. He was referring to how he was recommended for a new multi-national SG team and how it turned out to be the Russian's. Alexeyeva nodded, ignoring the petty insults spewing from the Major's mouth. She flipped through the pages in his file before asking the same questions she had been asking since the day started.

"Tell me about yourself, Major," The Lieutenant Colonel asked.

"I don't that will be necessary, ma'am," The Major replied.

The Russian looked up at the Major, irritated.

"Excuse me?" She asked.

"You have my file," The Major replied. "I think you know everything about me from that,"

"I prefer to know the person from actually talking to them," Alexeyeva replied. "I hope you don't mind,"

The Major leaned forward towards the table, ready to embrace the supposed curiosity of the Lieutenant Colonel.

"Let's begin with where you were born," The Lieutenant Colonel began.  
>The Major scoffed.<p>

"You need to earn the right to ask me those kinds of questions, ma'am," He replied.

The Russian sat back and crossed her arms. General Carter had become tempted to kick the Major out for his slander but the Russian stopped her.

"Tell me Major Witkowski," Alexeyeva asked.

"What is it that the Russians did that antagonized you?"

The Major said nothing.

"What makes you so scared of them…of me?" The Russian added.

The Major looked down in shame. He knew why he hated the Russians but he wasn't sure if the Lieutenant Colonel would understand. Still though, he disclosed his reason anyway.

"I lost two of my squad mates in Afghanistan a few years back to an IED, close friends,"

The Russian now gave her full attention.

"What does loosing your friends to an improvised explosive have anything to do with me?" She asked.

"I think you know how it has to do with you,"

The Russian half-smiled, realizing the roots of the Major's distaste for her country.

"You're referring to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan of 1979, da?" She asked.

The Major glared at the Russian, thankful that she finally understood.

"Damn straight, Colonel…if it weren't for you people, we wouldn't be there in the first place,"

"That might be true or it might not have been," The Russian replied. "I didn't enjoy the idea either when I first heard of how ridiculous the outcome was…after all, it was our 'Vietnam War' as the world says it,"

"And why would you be against it?" The Major asked.

"Because my father served there," The Russian answered.

The Major scoffed.

"All the more reason to further dislike you," He commented.

"I was only two months old when Soviet tanks rolled into that country," Alexeyeva replied. "For nine years I had no father to look up to and more than one occasion I almost never would have,"

The Major finally nodded.

"Is that why you enlisted into Russian Special Forces?" He asked. "To follow in your dad's footsteps as a solider?"

The Russian shook her head.

"No," She replied.

"I only want to defend my family and my country, not hurt others…then again, I guess he was doing the same. Now I hope I earned that right you mentioned earlier,"

After a moment of silence, Witkowski finally broke it after feeling guilt.

"I was born in Wimbledon, London," He answered. "On August 9th, 1982,"

Alexeyeva listened attentively as Witkowski continued.

"My dad, much like yours, was at war, but before I was actually born. It was during the Falklands War when it left a mark on my family name. My dad saw his friends die and because of that, he begged me not to join the British Royal Army. But I guess it worked out in my favor, my dad being in that war. He must have met someone in that fight who later was looking for new volunteers to be selected for the Special Air Service. After the selection, I managed to make it to the 22nd Regiment…been there ever since. In Afghanistan, as I told you, I lost people there…it didn't help knowing everything could have been prevented if only the Soviets hadn't invaded it. Recently, after being transferred to Stargate Command, I was given the command of SG-2 in Colonel Griff's absence a month before you showed up,"

Alexeyeva nodded as she wrote down a few notes.

"What is your specialty?" She asked.

"Designated Marksman, ma'am," The Major replied.

"Which weapon?"

"The L118A1 Arctic Warfare, I'm not the best shot in the world but it was enough to keep SG-2 alive,"

"Any operations you undertook during your command that you find memorable?" Alexeyeva asked.

The Major shook his head.

"Most of our missions were really just exploration and research, we hadn't had that much contact with aliens,"

"But you did have contact at some point?"

"Yes ma'am, some were friendly but once or twice we fought the Lucian Alliance,"

"Were they provoked or were you?" Alexeyeva asked.

The Major thought back to his fight against the Galactic criminals.

"There is a 'Weapons-Free' Policy on the Lucian Alliance," The Major replied.

"Recently they have been stepping up their attacks against us and our allies." General Carted added. "The decision hadn't come lightly and we had no other choice,"

"Understood General," Alexeyeva replied, closing her book. "But I wasn't judging."

The Lieutenant Colonel stood up, followed by the other two. With a long sigh, she finally looked at the Major.

"I don't think it'll be much of a mystery whether or not I'll accept you as my second in command, Major Witkowski," She said to him. "You are the first member to be chosen for SG-26…congratulations,"

The Major said nothing. Instead, he saluted the Russian and the General before he left.

The briefing room was silent once more as the two women waited for the next candidate to enter. Alexeyeva fell back into her seat and looked up at the ceiling. General Carter took notice and crossed her arms.

"Do you want to take a break, Colonel?" She asked.

The Russian shook her head.

"Nyet, General," She replied. "The sooner we go through the interviews, the sooner I can go sleep,"

Stargate Command, Colorado, USA, Earth

03:27 P.M

"Unscheduled off-world activation!"

Alexeyeva heard those words, as well as the alarm, as she and Carter had just finished up another interview. She recognized Chief Master Sergeant Harriman's voice. Carter told the Russian to stay put while she went down the spiral staircase. Unbeknownst to the General, Alexeyeva wasn't exactly the one to stand around and do nothing. Two minutes after Carter left, the Russian followed her downward. After arriving at the control room, Alexeyeva asked Harriman where the General had gone.

"She's in the gate room, meeting with SG-3,"

The Russian thanked the Sergeant and made her way to the gate room. As she passed the blast door, a nurse, was pushing a gurney at her direction. On the gurney, a wounded marine was groaning in pain. Alexeyeva looked on in awe before her name was called out.

"Colonel!"

It was General Carter.

"I thought I told you to stay put,"

Alexeyeva apologized and told the General that she was curious about what was happening.

"My team got ambushed at the mine, that's what happened," The Commanding Officer of SG-3, Colonel Albert Reynolds, replied.

Alexeyeva was confused.

"What mine?" She asked.

"Remember when Daniel told us about the mines on P3Z-597 last month," Carter replied.

"Da, General," The Russian replied. "The empty ones that were abandoned,"

"Well, they aren't abandoned anymore," Colonel Reynolds replied. "Someone seems to have interest in those mines because when my team got there, we had no warning whatsoever,"

The marine wiped off dirt from his forehead before continuing.

"It wasn't the Lucian Alliance, General,"

Carter was taken aback.

"What do you mean it wasn't them?" She asked.

"What I mean is that it wasn't them…at least they didn't look like it,"

"What happened to that marine I passed by?" Alexeyeva cut into the conversation.

Reynolds looked, with surprise, at the Russian.

"That was Sergeant Ortega," He replied. "He took a hit to the leg but nothing serious,"

"Alright, Colonel, go and get some rest, I'll look into what I can do," Carter replied.

Reynolds nodded and began to leave with the remaining marines. Just before he exited the room, however, Reynolds turned around and took one last look at the Russian.

"You're the new CO of the one of the new SG teams, right?" He asked her.

"Yes sir," Alexeyeva replied. "That would be me,"

Reynolds grinned.

"Welcome to the craziest job in the world," He said, and then left.

Alexeyeva, on her own time, decided to visit the wounded Sergeant at the infirmary. A nurse finished attending to the sergeant and left him be. Approaching the marine, Alexeyeva began to feel uneasy. Her hands were shaking, warning her that something wasn't right. A hand on her shoulder nearly sent her flying but instead she quickly turned around. Behind her, stood Doctor Lam, whom was surprised to find the Russian back.

"You look as if you just saw a ghost," Lam said to her.

Alexeyeva hesitated so she could find words to fill her empty mouth.

"I…" She stuttered. "Was…going to have a…talk with that marine,"

Alexeyeva pointed with her thumb. Lam looked confused at the Russian's strange behavior and felt suspicious.

"Ah let her, Señora médico," The Sergeant said to the Doctor. "I'm sure she isn't here to asesinar anybody,"

Lam rolled her eyes in annoyance.

"Ya know, Ortega," She said back to the Marine. "I wish she was,"

The Marine shrugged at the sarcasm.

"Ah, careful what you wish for, hermoso," He said, grinning. "I just might get shot in the heart one day…and I'm sure you'd miss me,"

Lam mumbled a curse word before looking at Alexeyeva in the eye.

"Just go and talk to him…distract the son of a bitch," She said.

Alexeyeva smiled.

"You know, droog," 'Friend' Alexeyeva said to the Doctor. "You should appreciate it when someone shows affection for you,"

Lam scoffed.

"Please, Colonel," She replied. "I'd rather be married to Doctor Jackson than that guy. Well it was nice seeing you again,"

After the Doctor left, Alexeyeva grabbed a chair, dragged next to the Sergeant's bed and sat. The Sergeant had an interested look on his face as he glanced at the Russian sitting next to him.

"So what brings you here, Señora?" He asked.

"I was just curious about what happened to you?" Alexeyeva replied.

"I didn't know a Ruso would care enough,"

Alexeyeva half-smiled.

"What were you and your team doing on that planet?" She asked.

Ortega shrugged, figuring that the Russian would already know.

"We were sent to recon the area after reports of sightings of unknowns started coming through." He began. "Two hours in…we go out…the rest you already know,"

Alexeyeva wasn't convinced that this was everything. After all, Ortega did take one to his leg.

"What was so special about this mine that a month after it was found empty, it ended with sending you into an ambush?" She asked.

Ortega laid back into his bed.

"It isn't about the mine, Ruso," He replied. "It's about what's in them that makes it so special,"

Alexeyeva raised an eyebrow.

"Continue, pazalsta," She asked. 'Please'.

"The naquadah, dama," Ortega replied, using his hands to illustrate. "The best damn power source in this galaxy,"

"Like oil is for Earth, da?" Alexeyeva asked.

"If in terms of how much it is used, then sí," Ortega answered.

Alexeyeva sat back into her chair, exhausted.

"I'm looking for people in joining my team," She added bluntly.

A nurse rolled a tray of food for the Sergeant and left before he could answer the Russian's statement.

"So I hear," He replied, eyeing the tuna sandwich on the plate.

"Why me?"

"Why not you?"

"Well…what is the role of your team?"

"Most likely reconnaissance and exploration,"

"Will I be able to continue the use of my current weapons,"

"Of course,"

"Have you recruited anyone else?"

"Da,"

"Anyone good?"

"You can say that,"

"Will Reynolds agree to this?"

"Probably not,"

"Works for me,"

Alexeyeva smiled, grabbing the juice carton.

"I'll be sure to have a talk with your commanding officer, Sergeant Ortega," She told him.

The Sergeant, gazed at what was in the woman's hand, then to his tray.

"¿Qué demonios?" 'What the hell?' He asked, confused.

Alexeyeva advertised the fact that she was drinking the juice that Ortega was supposed to.

"Usted sabe, Señora," 'You know, Ma'am,' Ortega commented. "I don't think you'll find the word Vodka anywhere on that box,"

Alexeyeva nodded before placing the carton into Ortega's left hand.

"Good," She replied. "At least I'll stay sober, Sergeant Ortega,"

The Sergeant gave a thumb up, as well as a smile.

"The name's Alexander," He added, as Alexeyeva was sipping from the carton. "What's yours?"

"Lieutenant Colonel Natasha Alexeyeva," The Russian replied.

Ortega raised an eyebrow.

"Alexeyeva, huh?" He asked. "That's gonna be a problema when it comes to name calling."

He then bit into his sandwich.

"Mmm," He mumbled as he chewed.

"Tuna,"

"Oh shove it up your gluteus maximums," Alexeyeva replied, chuckling.

"That's sorta weird," Ortega commented. "Those big words coming from a grunt like tú,"

Alexeyeva, all of a sudden, seemed irritated. However, as quickly the agitation appeared, it was gone.

"Never doubt the intelligence of a combatant, Sergeant," The Russian reminded the Sergeant. "Doing so will lead to your downfall,"

"Don't I know it," Ortega commented.

Sub-Level 14, Stargate Command

03:50 P.M

"I will need a replacement," Reynolds told the Russian.

Alexeyeva was rather surprised to know that the Colonel was willing to give up the Sergeant that easily. From the infirmary to asking where the Colonel was to actually asking him, Alexeyeva spent the entire time in her head trying to find a way to convince Colonel Reynolds to relinquish Sergeant Ortega to her team. She wasn't sure how he'd respond, even after he gave his answer.

"Of course, Colonel," Alexeyeva replied. "As long as necessary,"

"No, I mean he's all yours right now…my team doesn't go off-world for another week,"

"Do you think you'll have someone else by then?" Alexeyeva asked.

"Maybe," Reynolds replied, unsure.

"Colonel Alexeyeva," A voice from behind.

Reynolds and Alexeyeva looked back. It was General Carter. Alexeyeva looked back at Reynolds.

"Thank you for your time, Colonel Reynolds," She said.

Reynolds nodded.

"Any time, Ma'am," He replied before leaving.

The Russian approached the General.

"Are you ready to continue with the interviews?" The General asked.

Alexeyeva shook her head.

"I've spoke with Sergeant Ortega of SG-3 and proposed a position in my team," She began. "He said yes and Colonel Reynolds agreed to hand him over," Carter looked pleasantly surprised.

"I see," She replied. "But that is three in total, you're one short,"

Alexeyeva thought for a moment before snapping her fingers after getting an idea.

"I know who could fill the last position,"

"Who?" Carter asked, curious.

Alexeyeva smiled.

"Where is Private Williams' quarters?"

Williams was listening to her IPod while reading War and Peace. Looking around her room briefly, she noticed how gray and bleak the walls were. On her desk, Williams eyed, stood a picture frame of her when she graduated high-school. She was standing next to her family. Her older brother and father, as well as one of her close friends. Williams saddened a bit when she realized that someone was missing in that picture. Before Williams could continue on with her book, a knock was heard coming from the door.

"Come in," She said.

The door opened and came in two women. Williams grinned brightly as she got off her bed.

"Lieutenant Colonel, General Carter," She greeted both visitors with handshakes.

"What brings you here?" The Canadian asked.

"You might want to ask the Lieutenant Colonel," Carter said, smiling.

Williams looked at the Russian, who too, was smiling.

"I have a proposition," Alexeyeva said.

Williams became anxious to hear what she had to say.

"How would you like to join my team and –"

The Russian was cut off when Williams hugged her.

"OMG," Williams squeaked excitedly. "Yes, Yes, Colonel, I'll join your SG team in a heartbeat,"

Alexeyeva laughed at the Canadian's reaction.

"Settle down, Private Williams," She said. "You're embarrassing me,"

Carter giggled a bit.

"This is gonna be epic, going out there and kicking alien butt!" Williams added, ignoring the Russian's plea to stop being excited.

"You're gonna be like…I dunno…the mom I never had,"

At that moment, upon hearing those words, Alexeyeva could feel a tear going down her cheek. She hugged the Canadian back.

"Da, Private Williams," She said, almost crying. "Perhaps this will be a good experience, going to other worlds."

Alexeyeva hadn't seen a child be so happy in some time. The last time she saw this was before a traumatic event, which had echoed in her mind for months already. Perhaps this, being friends with this bomb specialist, would allow the Russian to fulfill her role as a mother. A role that was cut short by the one in the chamber. But for now, she completed her fist task. Complete the assembly of her new team. The inception of SG-26.


	11. The First Step

Chapter 11: The First Step

The Following Day…

Sub-Level 27, Stargate Command

09:30 A.M

The air, once filled with excitement and anticipation, has dispersed as the newly created SG-26 waited in the briefing room. Alexeyeva pulled at her own sleeve of her newly issued olive-green uniform. She gazed in wonder at the patch that read SG-26 with all the details. General Carter had wanted to make the first mission of the first multi-national team something memorable. Unfortunately, given what has happened over the last 15 years, there wasn't much left to do, except for exploration and revisits to already explored worlds. Yet, despite the shortcomings, SG-26 was still anxious to go off-world and actually do something. Sergeant Ortega sat to the left of Alexeyeva while Witkowski sat across. Williams, bored out of her mind, was humming a song from the far end of the table, while listening to her IPod. After five minutes of toleration, Ortega slapped himself on the face.

"Alright, that's it!" He nearly yelled. "Who the hell spiked that poor girl's café?"

Alexeyeva brought up her head to look at the ceiling. She sighed, showing signs of lack of sleep.

"I thought that was your job," She replied, chuckling.

Ortega shrugged.

"I don't know," He commented. "You seem the type to do it,"

"Now you're just stereotyping," Alexeyeva added.

Across the table, Witkowski looked grim, his arms crossed. When the two noticed him, they stopped with the horse play.

"If you're finished," The Major said to the two. "We should start showing some decency to the SFs and look professional,"

Alexeyeva nodded in agreement.

"Of course, Major," She replied. "But we should still savor every moment we spend out there…somewhere,"

The Major still wasn't convinced.

"Clearly you have not met the very enemies the General has faced in the past," He told the Russian. "If you had met them…you wouldn't be so relaxed,"

"Have you faced them, Major Witkowski?" Alexeyeva asked.

"Some of them," The Major replied.

"Well," Ortega cut in. "The only enemy we might be facing out there is a time killer…that's all that ever happened in SG-3,"

"Which brings me to a good point," The Major added.

"Where are you from, Sergeant?"

"Spain," Ortega replied. "Why?"

"If you're from Spain, how the bloody hell did you get attached to an American Marine unit?" Ortega smirked, crossing his arms.

"I was a good enough solider to be transferred to Stargate Command," He answered. "SG-3 was the only available team for a position when I arrived,"

"Now you've been reassigned," Witkowski added.

Ortega shrugged.

"I don't really see the difference," He replied.

General Carter exited her office with four copies of the team's first mission briefing. Alexeyeva, Witkowski, and Ortega stood up as she entered the room. When she noticed that Williams wasn't paying any attention, Alexeyeva signaled her to get up. Williams removed her ear buds and turned off the IPod as she stood.

"At ease," Carter said to the team.

The team, as well as the General, sat down. The files were passed to the team members before the briefing began.

"I'm sorry I couldn't get anything worth the expertise from all of you," Carter began. "But I have assigned your team on a Recon Operation with SG-1,"

"Blimey," Witkowski replied. "I didn't think we'd work with the best,"

Alexeyeva shook her head.

"Do not get your hopes up, Major," She added. "It's only a simple operation,"

"That is true," Carter explained. "SG-1 found temple ruins and Daniel was hoping to follow up on his examination."

Ortega sat back into his chair, sighing.

"Are we babysitting, Ma'am," He asked.

Carter didn't know what to say.

"You'll have to ask Colonel Mitchell about that," She replied. "You leave in an hour,"

The team stood up to leave but Carter stopped them.

"Oh, and Colonel," She said to the leader. "That shipment you requested is in the locker room,"

The Russian nodded. "Spasheba, General," She replied.

"What shipment?" Witkowski asked as the team entered their locker room several floors above the briefing room.

Alexeyeva found a create sitting on the bench and approached it.

"This," She responded. "I had asked for my weapons be transferred here,"

Ortega crossed his arms, smiling.

"I guess you don't like American weapons, no?" He asked.

The Lieutenant Colonel shook her head as she examined the create.

"Some of my weapons are of sentimental value," She replied. "I have nothing against American weaponry."

She found a crowbar lying next to the create. Using her strength, the Russian pulled off the cover as the others looked on. Upon opening it, Alexeyeva and her team found the following: An AK-200, a PP-2000, an MP-443 Grach pistol and a Makarov PM. Taped onto the AK was a note. Alexeyeva took off the tape and unfolded the paper. Written in her language, the Russian read the note to herself.

_"Good to hear from you, Natasha. I'm not sure if it was you who made this request but…no, it must be you. No one else but our team, and your husband and mother, knew about the value of the Kalashnikov that you have held so dear for these last few months. Glazkov and I have placed a bet to see what you are doing now, in America. That was all we have been told from the Colonel himself. But I don't care where you truly are or what you are doing, as long as your conscious is clean and you can sleep at night, I hope you are safe. But if, god forbid, something does happen to you, please remember that it was an honor serving under your command and Glazkov says the same. Your mother is worried sick about you. Your sister even asked me where you were but, like her, I have no idea. Your brother says hello while Igor sends his best wishes. Also, he had taken the honor of packing your firearms into the create, along with the other weapons you have asked for. Be safe, Podpolkovnik. ~ Sergeant Sergei Balashov"_

Alexeyeva folded the note and placed it in the right breast pocket of her jacket. She then proceeded to take out the AK-200 from the create. Placing the butt end on the floor, Alexeyeva knelt down in front of the rifle and placed her forehead on the end of the barrel as if it was ceremonial. She said something in Russian that the others couldn't understand before placing the rifle on the bench. The others, who had watched their commander the entire time, had resumed their original tasks of gearing up.

"That sounded like a prayer," Williams said, grabbing a vest from her locker.

Alexeyeva didn't say anything as she removed the rest of her weapons from the create.

This had made Williams uneasy.

"Um, Ma'am," She asked again.

"I heard you the first time, Private," The Russian answered. "What I said isn't of any of your concern, it's mine,"

Williams was speechless. She didn't understand the Lieutenant Colonel's secrecy in the nature of her firearms being transferred from Russia. Williams breathed lightly before putting on the rest of her gear, thinking about what the Russian mumbled.

When the team had all of their gear on, each member had checked for any faults in their weapons and communication gear, making sure that nothing wrong was to happen while off-world.

"Microphone check," Alexeyeva spoke through her throat-microphone.

"Testing, testing," Ortega spoke through his radio.

"How's my mic, ma'am," Williams added.

"I'm sure my gear is in tip top shape, Lieutenant Colonel," Witkowski spoke into his radio.

"It better be, Major," Ortega replied. "Because I'm not going to call out your name if we get lost,"

Witkowski punched Ortega in the arm as a reply.

"Ignore him, Major," Alexeyeva said to the British solider as she exited the locker room. "We're all in this together,"

"Too right, mate," The other followed and headed towards the elevator.

On the way, they came across the team who they would be assisting.

"SG-1, I presume," The Russian asked them.

She recognized Colonel Mitchell, Doctor Jackson and Vala Mal Doran. The fourth member, with a strange insignia engraved into his forehead, the Russian had not recognized.

"Good to see you again, Ruski," Mitchell replied, saluting Alexeyeva.

"Colonel,"

She had done the same. Mitchell looked at the fourth member before looking back to the Russian.

"Lieutenant Colonel Alexeyeva, this is Teal'c," He said, introducing the Russian to the fourth member. "Teal'c, this is Alexeyeva, the woman I mentioned,"

"Preveat, Teal'c," 'Hello' Alexeyeva said, waving to the fourth member.

Teal'c bowed his head in acknowledgement.

"I've heard many things about you, Colonel Alexeyeva," He said to the Russian. "I hope that what Colonel Mitchell says is true,"

Walking down the hall towards the gate room, Mitchell couldn't help but notice the rifle slinged over the Russian's back.

"Nice AK," He commented. "What model is that, 47 or 74?"

"Both," Alexeyeva replied.

"Both?"

The Russian swung her rifle onto her hands and advertised the weapon.

"Avtomat Kalashnikova model dvesti,"

Mitchell was confused.

"Care to translate," He asked.

"Kalashnikov Rifle Model 200," Daniel cut in.

"Very good, Doctor Jackson," The Russian replied, impressed.

"Yeah, yeah, what do you mean both?" Mitchell asked.

"This Kalashnikov has an interchangeable barrel which allows the use of a 5.45x39mm, a 7.62x39mm and 5.56x45mm NATO cartridges, should the situation demand it." Alexeyeva explained.

"Nice," Mitchell replied.

"Indeed," Teal'c added. "A weapon that can change based on a needed strategy is rather effective,"

The Lieutenant Colonel looked back and smiled.

"You have to appreciate Russian ingenuity," She replied, slinging the rifle behind her back once more.

The team entered the gate room to find the Stargate already spinning.

_"Chevron one, engaged,"_ Alexeyeva could hear Harriman say through the speakers.

Seizing the opportunity to inquire, Ortega asked Colonel Mitchell what SG-26s role would be on their first mission.

_"Chevron two, engaged," _

"Trick question," Mitchell replied. "This is SG-26s first mission, but sometimes it's best to get used to going off-world,"

Ortega shook his head.

"It's the first time for the ladies," He commented. "But Witkowski and I know the drill,"

"Then perhaps you should teach them the proper procedure, Sergeant Ortega," Teal'c, replied.

_"Chevron three, engaged," _

Ortega threw his hands in the air.

"¿Qué se supone que tengo que hacer?" 'What am I supposed to do?' He asked. "I'm just a Sergeant, so anything I say will go right above the Señora's head,"

"Until I have a full understanding of how things should be done, Sergeant Ortega," Alexeyeva intruded. "I'm leaving you and Major Witkowski in charge in terms of guidance,"

_"Chevron four engaged," _

"Thank you very much, Lieutenant Colonel," Witkowski replied bitterly. "Give me another team to command,"

"You don't like commanding a unit?" The Russian asked.

"With you possibly overriding my every command, I think not," Witkowski answered. "I'm usually generous when it comes to dividing my command, Major, you are free to advise me on anything," Alexeyeva replied.

_"Chevron five, engaged," _

Witkowski looked around, eyeing the other team members.

"Has anyone decided to gen up before we leave?" He asked, scratching the back of his neck.

"Gen up?" Mitchell asked.

"It means 'to do research or get information'," Alexeyeva clarified.

Witkowski was taken aback.

"I'm surprised you know British Slang," He commented.

The Russian smiled.

"I've visited your country more than once," She replied. "I've learned a thing or two,"

"Cheeky little one, aren't ya?" Witkowski remarked sarcastically.

"Don't push it, Major," Alexeyeva replied.

_"Chevron six, engaged,"_

"Eyes front, Ruski," Mitchell said to the commander of SG-26. "You're gonna want to see this,"

The two teams looked forward towards the spinning Stargate. The gate had finally come to its final symbol before locking in.

_"Chevron seven, locked," _

"What exactly is that –" Alexeyeva was cut short when a massive kawhoosh sent her flying back and bumping into Daniel.

"Bozhe moy," 'Oh my god!" She squeaked. "What in god's name was that?"

Mitchell chuckled at the Russian's reaction.

"Unstable vortex," He replied. "Will disintegrate everything in its path,"

"And when was someone going to tell me that was going to happen, Colonel?" Alexeyeva asked.

Mitchell shrugged.

"Come on everybody," He said, leading the way up the ramp. "Time to show the new kids how it's done,"

The teams approached the event horizon, only two of them were uncertain of what was happening. Before he could step through, Mitchell was stopped by Alexeyeva.

"What exactly do you do at this point?" She asked.

"You simply walk through it," Mitchell replied.

"That's it?"

Mitchell nodded.

"But…does it hurt?"

"Oh yeah…like hell," Mitchell replied.

Alexeyeva looked nervous and this made Mitchell smile. He jumped through the gate laughing and this made the Russian wonder whether or not the man was lying or not.

With a step forward, Alexeyeva placed her hand into the event horizon. She felt nothing as she waved her hand side to side. Retracting her hand, Alexeyeva looked upon the hand. She made a fist to make sure nothing was wrong with it. Taking a deep breath, Alexeyeva closed her eyes…and stepped through.


	12. Other Worldly

Chapter 12: Other-Worldly

P3E-610

10:15 A.M (Zulu Time)

Alexeyeva couldn't remember a time when she rode a roller coaster. But at least she wouldn't need to guess what it would be like. The Russian felt herself be thrown left and right, up and down, as her body was transported through the wormhole. Upon exiting the other end, Alexeyeva nearly lost her footing over the steps. Her attempt to breathe was cut short when Witkowski exited the gate right behind her, knocking them down the steps.

"Ah bloody hell!" The Major yelled at the Russian as he stood up. "Way to throw a spanner in the works, eh?"

Alexeyeva slowly stood up, feeling nauseated.

"My apologi-" She bent over as she vomited.

"Ah, blimey!" The Major added, covering his nose as he backed away.

The other team members exited the gate only to find what had happened, much to their amusement and disgust. Teal'c approached the ill Lieutenant Colonel.

"Are you alright, Colonel Alexeyeva?" He asked.

The Russian threw up once more.

"I…" She tried to speak. "I think I'll live,"

Mitchell smiled.

"Don't worry about it, Ruski," He said. "You'll get used to it,"

"I'd better," Alexeyeva replied.

Witkowski shook his head, trying to hide his nose from the smell.

"How the bloody hell did she pass selection for Spetsnaz anyway?" He mumbled, adjusting his slinged weapon.

When the Russian recovered, she decided to take in the scenery. The immediate vicinity was forested, giving disappointment to the Lieutenant Colonel. She was hoping to see alien civilizations and meet their inhabitants and gain valuable experience to top her original Counter-Terrorism, nuclear safety and law enforcement. Life in the SGC, as she figured, was anything but exciting. Mitchell signaled Alexeyeva to follow him. She struggled to walk, having to hold onto the MALP, which had come before them, for support.

"We're going to look around a bit, make sure there aren't nasty surprises waiting to spring at us," He said to the Russian.

"Understood, Colonel," Alexeyeva replied, following the Colonel through the forest.

After ten minutes of surveying the immediate area, Mitchell and Alexeyeva returned to the other team members.

"Well, no one's home," Mitchell stated their findings.

"Then it appears we can proceed as planed, Colonel Mitchell," Teal'c replied.

Mitchell nodded.

"SG-26, you're on guard duty while we scout ahead," He said to the teams.

At that moment, Ortega waved his hands side to side in protest.

"Oh hell no," He replied. "You are not making us baby-sit the goddamn gate again,"

Mitchell shook his head.

"Come on, Sergeant," He said. "It's not like you'd be interested in a bunch of old stones,"

"You know what happened the last time it was nothing more than 'a bunch of old stones'?" Ortega argued. "You got your butts handed back to you, and not in the nicest way,"

"All the more reason for you to stay behind to protect the gate," Mitchell replied.

Alexeyeva, tired of the infighting, decided to step in.

"What if we split our teams," She asked. "Colonel Mitchell and Doctor Jackson will go along with Sergeant Ortega and myself while Teal'c and Vala stay behind with Major Witkowski and Private Williams," 

* * *

><p>"Oh this is just a terrible idea," Vala commented as Mitchell and the others began to leave, five minutes later.<p>

"Speak for yourself aussie," Witkowski replied, rolling his eyes.

Vala looked at the Major funny before looking back to the departing members.

"You can't just leave us here!" She said to them.

Daniel waved with a smug look on his face as they were almost out of view.

"Bu-bye Vala,"

Then they were gone.

Not knowing what to do next except sit down, Vala did as such. She turned to her left and found Williams, who was fiddling with her rifle.

"What are you doing?" The alien asked the Canadian.

Williams looked at the SG-1 member before returning to her rifle.

"Making an adjustment to the sights," She replied. "They seem to be a little off,"

"How can you be sure?" Witkowski asked, standing a few steps above.

"It just doesn't feel right," Williams replied, aiming her rifle at the ground.

The Major sighed before approaching Williams.

"Come on, give it here," He told her.

Williams handed her rifle over, hoping that the Major could solve the problem.

"A C7A2?" The Englishman asked.

"Yes Sir," Williams replied. "Canada's proud main battle rifle,"

The Major nodded and felt the weapon's weight in his hands. After a brief examination, Witkowski recalibrated the sights. Removing the magazine from the rifle and handing it back to the Canadian, Witkowski flipped the weapon to semi-fire and aimed at a nearby tree, knowing there was one round still left in the chamber.

"I'm taking a shot," He announced to the rest, to make sure that no one panicked.

* * *

><p>Mitchell spun 180 degrees when a shot rang out.<p>

"That was a 5-5-6 caliber," He commented.

Alexeyeva, too, noticed the unique sound of the bullet. She also remembered that Williams was the only person left behind that had a weapon that fired such ammunition. The Lieutenant Colonel reached over her radio and pressed against the talk button.

"Private Williams," She spoke into the microphone. "Was that you who discharged your weapon?"

"Negatory, Colonel," A reply came in. "It was Major Witkowski, he was just test firing my weapon,"

"Do you care to explain why, Private?" Alexeyeva asked as she and the others continued forward.

"I needed my weapon to be recalibrated,"

"I thought you did that before we left,"

"I must have forgotten, sorry about that Ma'am,"

Alexeyeva shook her head in disbelief. Yet she still acknowledged and ended the conversation.

"I don't understand Ma'am," Ortega commented as they continued to walk. "She still has the SPAS 12 to use, why not just use it instead of her rifle if she thinks it's no good?"

"Use on what, exactly?" Alexeyeva asked.

"Good point Colonel," Ortega replied, preceded by a sigh.

"While we are traveling to the ruins, Colonel Mitchell, Doctor Jackson," Alexeyeva began. "I would like to know more about this Lucian Alliance,"

Jackson turned his head to face Alexeyeva briefly before looking forward again.

"A bunch of criminals who banded together after we ripped the Gou'ald a new one." Mitchell explained.

"They were able to loot everything from the system lords, including ships, weapons and technology," Daniel added.

"Now they run a bunch of illegal operations all over the galaxy," Mitchell finished.

"Space Mobsters, da?" Alexeyeva asked.

"Sí, it has a nice ring to it," Ortega continued. "But not until three years ago did they really step things up,"

"How so?" Alexeyeva asked.

"They attacked the _Destiny_, an ancient ship that was occupied by our hombres,"

"Where is this ship?" Alexeyeva inquired further.

"Who knows where it is now," Daniel replied. "It moves from galaxy from galaxy…so far there hasn't been any contact with them,"

Alexeyeva sighed.

"That is a shame," She said.

The four approached the edge of a cliff, where they found what they were looking for.

"There it is," Mitchell announced, pointing.

Alexeyeva took off her sunglasses, shocked and surprised.

"God…damn," Ortega commented.

Destroyed stones where littered throughout the clearing while a single temple, half destroyed, stood in the center. The ruins showed age with plants growing upon them as birds flew across the field. Alexeyeva sat at the edge, leaning forward, curious about the ruins before them. She whistled in astonishment.

"It's amazing," She said.

"No kidding," Mitchell replied.

Alexeyeva looked down the cliff and then to Mitchell.

"How do you suppose we get down there?" She asked.

Mitchell nodded to his right where, as Alexeyeva found, were four hooks with ropes already attached.

"We took the liberty of setting up the ropes the first time around, Ruski," He said. "So there's no need to make a hassle."

Taking a deep breath, Alexeyeva held onto her rope as she repelled down. She could feel the wind rushing from the back of head as she descended, bringing a smile across her face. She always did enjoy doing a good repel down the face a cliff. Upon placing her feet on solid ground, she met up with Mitchell, who had arrived at the bottom first. He pointed to the temple, saying that they would have to enter through the destroyed area so that they could gain access to the temple.

"Should someone stay behind and make sure no one ambushes us?" The Russian asked.

"Noses!" Ortega immediately called out, placing his right index finger over the tip of his nose.

Mitchell chuckled.

"Well, thank you for volunteering, Sergeant,"

Ortega's face, at that very moment, looked as if he saw someone close to him die.

"Eres un hijo de puta!" 'You sonofabitch!' He yelled, raising his hands up.

"Sergeant Ortega," Alexeyeva replied, rolling her eyes. "Live with it,"

The Sergeant pinched the bridge of his nose, knowing that he had been outsmarted.

"Fine, Ruso," He answered, unfolding the bipod on his American-made M27 Infantry Automatic Rifle. "I'll set up,"

The stone walls provided enough friction for the Russian to slide downward through the linier airshaft without her slipping. Upon reaching the bottom, she quickly aimed her rifle-mounted flashlight through the corridor. Seeing that it was clear of life, Alexeyeva signaled Daniel and Mitchell to follow her. Beams of light flooded the corridor as the three Earthlings advanced down the blackened hallway.

"To tell the truth," Alexeyeva commented. "I never expected to find an ancient ruin on an alien world,"

"You didn't expect a lot of things Ruski," Mitchell replied, smiling. "Fifteen years, a lot had come and gone,"

"That is an understatement," Daniel replied, eyeing the walls.

"I can understand that," The Lieutenant Colonel said. "That was around the time I became part of the Russian Armed Forces,"

"Oh yeah?" Daniel asked.

Alexeyeva nodded, looking upward. "I graduated in 1997 with a rank of Mládshiy Leytenánt,"

"Which is?" Mitchell asked.

"Junior Lieutenant," Daniel answered.

"Da," The Russian replied, stopping at a door. "I decided to pursue a degree in Biological Chemistry,"

She paused before chuckling.

"What good that did me,"

"I dunno," Mitchell replied. "You never know when you would need your smarts,"

Alexeyeva turned her head to the Colonel.

"The only 'smarts' that I ever used was for combat," She commented. "There is a very small demand for Combat Scientists in my country,"

"There is one for Stargate Command," Daniel replied.

"Perhaps," Alexeyeva replied, as she and the others looked at the doorway.

The Russian repeated one last time before taking a breather.

"Jackson, this seems right up your alley," Mitchell said, examining the symbols on the wall.

Daniel nodded before he placed his left hand over the walls, feeling the engraved pictographs.

"This doesn't make any sense," Daniel commented.

"What doesn't, doctor?" Alexeyeva asked, sitting on the floor.

The archeologist took off his backpack and searched it for something. Upon removing his journal, Daniel opened it and began to compare symbols.

"These pictographs, or hieroglyphs, they match the ones in the mines on P3Z-597,"

Alexeyeva moaned angrily.

"Again with this damn mine," She complained. "What the hell was so important in those caves that some pictures match the ones here and there?"

Daniel didn't reply as he was already busy attempting to translate some of the text.

"It says here that great beings have arrived from a world unknown, possessing great technology. Some of their technology permitted them to vanish and then reappear elsewhere."

"Sounds whoever this 'advanced race' was, they seemed to have cloaking tech," Mitchell commented, sitting down.

"Well, it gets interesting," Daniel replied, translating further.

"_The advanced beings taught us how to read and write as well as deliver us a circular device that is capable of sending explorers to the farthest reaches of space. We call it the Zvezdnye vrata,_" Daniel further read the text.

Mitchell quickly gotten off the ground and approached Daniel.

"Stargates?" He asked the archeologist.

"There is one more thing about that translation, Doctor," Alexeyeva said, also getting off the floor.

"That last part," She said. "Those final two words…it's Russian and it literaly means 'Stargate',"

Daniel and Mitchell looked at each other, wide-eyed. Not knowing what else to do, Daniel continued reading. "_After thousands of years of facing the oppression of the symbiotic menace, we have finally broken our chains and became an independent society. Our saviors left us technology in order to nurture ourselves and one day help those who are being beaten down by the Gou'ald, though now we are about to leave this world behind…we hope that those who visit are not saddened, please bear our gift to you,_"

"Was it the Ancients who helped these guys?" Mitchell asked.

"Did aliens kidnap Russians and set them up on other worlds?" Alexeyeva also asked.

"They did that to a lot of people from Earth, Ruski," Mitchell answered.

"Well…whatever happened and whoever helped who," Daniel added. "The last part talks about a powerful energy source,"

"A ZPM?" Mitchell asked.

Daniel shrugged, sighing.

"It also mentions a large cache of this power energy source," He added. "So if they are ZPMs…we just found a lot of them,"

Mitchell took a step back.

"Whoa," He sighed. "So what you're saying is that we could be standing on top of a stockpile of ZPMs…a massive stock pile,"

In the midst of the conversation, the Russian decided to do a little bit of exploring herself. After taking a few short steps, however, Alexeyeva found a stone sticking out. With a single push from her foot, she pressed the stone back into place. Then something else stuck out to her right. Something, with an orangish-yellow tint, was sticking out. Placing her two hands over the object, Alexeyeva pulled it out.

"Doctor Jackson, Colonel Mitchell," She called out, returning to the two with the object in her hands.

"Holy crap, Ruski," Mitchell replied, eyeing the object in the Russian's hands.

"You just found a ZPM,"

Alexeyeva raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"Is this good?" She asked, examining the device in her hands.

Daniel shrugged again, looking around with flashlight in hand.

"If this place isn't booby trapped," Then the ground began shaking and dust began falling.

"Chyort, Doctor," Alexeyeva yelled. "You had to jinx us,"

"We should go," Mitchell commented. "Like right now,"

The three were about to leave until Alexeyeva noticed something on the wall.

"Wait," She said.

"For what?" Mitchell asked.

She pointed to the wall.

"Gate coordinates," Jackson said.

Alexeyeva quickly pulled out a camera from her vest and turned it on.

"You brought a camera?" Mitchell asked, beginning his climb.

Alexeyeva scoffed.

"You never know when you need it," She replied, aiming the camera.

Taking several pictures, Alexeyeva quickly turned off the camera and placed it back into her vest. After which, she quickly followed Daniel up the shaft and towards the surface.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter, and remember: Reviews are Welcome!


	13. Cut

Chapter 13: Cut

P3E-610

11:00 A.M (Zulu Time)

As light poured onto her face, Alexeyeva winced and almost fell back down. Then a hand, reaching out for her, blocked the sun.

"Not bad for the first day on the job, no?"

It was Ortega.

"Da," The Russian replied, grabbing the Sergeant's hand. "I should more careful when it comes to touching things,"

"No," Ortega corrected, pulling the Russian out of the collapsed tunnel.

"I'm talking about the ZPM,"

"What about it?"

"You're pretty damn lucky to find one,"

"What in god's name is so special about these things?" Alexeyeva asked, wiping the dust off her uniform.

"See, Ruski!" Mitchell commented below her, showing off the ZPM. "I told you that your smarts would get you somewhere,"

"Da, Colonel," The Russian answered. "Six feet under, as you Amerikantsy say,"

Mitchell, after putting away the alien power core in to his backpack, had placed his hands up in defense.

"Hey," He replied. "You win some and you loose some, that's how the game is played,"

The Russian became agitated, disgusted with such a response.

"What game?" She asked, jumping down. "Since when does dying have anything to do with treasure hunting?"

Mitchell shook his head as the Russian approached him.

"You signed on for this, you know the risks," He replied.

Alexeyeva, stopped, taking a deep breath before answering.

"Nuclear-Terrorism or melt-down…o-or death of hostages is a risk," She calmly answered. "Being buried alive for something that I don't even know about, isn't,"

Mitchell, feeling empathy, placed his hand on her shoulder.

"No one died today, Ruski," He told her. "And you got us something we're gonna really need,"

Alexeyeva nodded.

"Understood Colonel," She replied. "Now lets retur–"

All of a sudden, two objects flew across the sky with amazing speed. The four quickly took cover behind several downed pillars, hoping to avoid detection.

"What the hell?" The Russian asked, catching her breath.

"Death Gliders," Ortega commented, spitting at the ground in disappointment.

"What are they?" The Russian asked further.

"Fighter interceptors," Mitchell replied.

Alexeyeva was shocked. Despite reading all those science-fiction novels during her youth, she had not yet come to realize just how advanced aliens had become.

"Alien fighter jets?" The Russian asked, in disbelief.

"Not jets…exactly," Mitchell tried to explain "They're like…jets but…ah you get the idea,"

Daniel reached for his radio and pressed against the talk button, hoping to communicate with the guard detail back at the gate.

"Vala, Teal'c, are you there?" He talked into the microphone.

No answer.

"Teal'c, Vala,"

Silence.

"No me gusta esto," 'I don't like this.' Ortega commented.

**Seven Minutes Earlier…**

Using his bag as a pillow for comfort and his Boonie Hat as a cover his face from the sun, Major Witkowski slept unsoundly behind the gate while Vala and Private Williams were sitting on the stairs. Teal'c was standing guard nearby with his staff weapon at hand, leaning against it. Boredom lingered in the air as the only sounds were breathing, wildlife and the occasional sound their weapons made when they were adjusted.

"This isn't fair," Vala mumbled, placing her head on her hands.

Williams, who had been using her rifle as support to sit up straight, eyed the alien next to her.

"Whatever do ya mean, Miss," She asked.

Vala simply shrugged.

"It's just that Daniel and Cam get to go off with the two new guys on something that might need my expertise and–"

"Only one of them is new, aussie," Witkowski mumbled through his hat. "The other I actually trust,"

"You mean Lieutenant Colonel Alexeyeva, Major?" Williams asked, teasingly.

Witkowski raised his right hand, giving the V sign.

Williams looked back, sighing.

"That doesn't work in North America," She said to the Major, referring to the explicit insult he attempted to make.

The first chevron on the Stargate suddenly illuminated, followed by the sound of the gate activating. Everyone eyed the portal, confused.

"General Carter did not tell us that she would be checking up on our progress," Teal'c commented.

"Teal'c is right," Witkowski commented, getting up, placing his hat back on his head. "General Carter wasn't supposed to check up on us for another hour,"

"Well someone is calling," Vala replied, getting off the steps.

Williams followed, arming her rifle. Several moments later, after the Stargate opened with the kawhoosh, a blue event horizon had appeared. Aiming her rifle at the gate, Williams secretly hoped that it wasn't someone unwanted. The last thing she wanted was more trouble to deal with. This was her first mission off-world after all.

A single plop from the portal proved her wrong. A small sphere landed before Vala's feet, making a small pinging noise.

"What the hell is that?" Williams asked.

Vala, beginning to panic, backed away.

"Everyone ru–"

Before anyone could react, however, a white light originating from the sphere blinded everyone and knocked them out cold.

As if on que, a moment later, two pairs of feet emerged from the portal, revealing two men in uniform. One of them signaled the other to make sure that there was no one left standing. After a brief survey of the immediate area, the other told the other that the gate was secure.

"Good," The first replied. "Let's hope that power source is still within reach,"

Just before the blinding light could reach his eyes, Major Witkowski dashed towards the treeline, evading the harming effects of the Gou'ald Tok'Kal, their version of a flash grenade. He dove to the ground once trees were over his head, becoming covered with the lush green vegetation for concealment. The moment he heard the attempted warning from Vala, the Major knew it wasn't something to question. Underneath the brush, Witkowski's breathing intensified once he looked back to find two people emerging from the gate. Worse still, more followed, many more. This, as the Englishman realized, was an invasion, an attack. The Major managed to slow his breathing, knowing he will have to keep calm and try to think of a way to avoid confrontation. As he began to think, trying to count how many hostiles there were, a crackle from his radio began emitting.

_"Vala, Teal'c, are you there?"_

The Major recognized the archeologist's voice.

_"Teal'c, Vala,"_

After a brief hesitation, Witkowski answered.

"Keep it down, damn you," He replied through the radio.

_"What's going on?"_ Daniel asked.

"We got company," Witkowski answered. "I say again, the gate is no longer secure,"

Alexeyeva cursed under her breath when she heard those words. She had forgotten that unpleasant surprises, like these, were common for those from Stargate Command. The other SG members, already accustomed to these unpleasant surprises, begun to think of a plan.

"So," Ortega began, sitting down next to a downed pillar. "Any ideas anyone?"

A single drop of water fell from the sky.

There was silence.

Ortega waited for a reply.

Rain had begun to fall, but still no one answered.

_"I would truly appreciate some help here,"_ Witkowski's voice echoed from their communication equipment.

Alexeyeva reached for her radio and transmitted a message.

"We'll think of something, Major," She spoke into the microphone. "Until then, do what you can to evade the enemy,"

_"Easy for you to say,"_ Witkowski's irritation could be felt through the radio waves.

The unknown men guarding the gate took the others captive, as the Major looked on. This was all too familiar to him though. Three years earlier, on a mission in South East Asia back on Earth, Witkowski found himself in a similar position. This was how he lost the trust of his subordinates when he failed to save their informant from being executed. This time he knew it was different because, if he failed, his team would not be alive to criticize him. A head-on assault, for the Major, was not an option and, until someone came up with an idea and executed it…SG-1 and 26 would remain cut off from any escape to Earth.


	14. Stitch

Chapter 14: Stitch

P3E-610

12:10 P.M (Zulu Time)

The sky turned green as the raining intensified.

Hiding under a cave-like structure of pillars, Mitchell, Jackson, Alexeyeva and Ortega sat on dry soil, hoping someone could think of something. Ideas did in fact bounce around, however nothing could be deemed feasible. Ortega's teeth vibrated with the sudden chill of the outside environment.

"Why did it have to be cold," He asked, rhetorically of course.

Daniel didn't say anything for he was too busy looking through his notes. Mitchell's eye caught sight of this and, as a result, scoffed.

"Jesus, Jackson," He mumbled. "We're facing an enemy contingent and you are taking the time to look through your diary?"

Daniel smiled, mildly annoyed.

"You're confidence in me is touching, Cam," He replied. "Besides, I think, that while we are stuck here and maybe facing capture, I should study what we recovered before its too late,"

"I think that's a good idea, Doctor Jackson," Alexeyeva replied, looking outside, into the distance. "You might never have a second chance,"

She, as the others realized, had not moved from her position since they took shelter under the ruins.

"What are you thinking?" Mitchell asked, curious about what was running through the Russian's mind.

Alexeyeva, however, did have an idea. One, however, would be something the others might protest against.

"Sergeant Ortega," She began. "Did you happen to notice whether or not Witkowski had brought a sound suppressor with him,"

"I think he did, but I'm not sure," Ortega replied "You can ask him,"

Alexeyeva shook her head.

"Nyet," She answered. "He did not bring an earpiece with him for sure and contacting him would most likely give his position away,"

"Well we can't have that if he's the only one who could help us retake the gate," Mitchell replied.

"We'll have to go look for him," Alexeyeva replied, preparing to set out.

"Wait, hold up," Ortega intruded.

Alexeyeva looked back, undeterred from her newly set goal.

"Da, Sergeant?"

"A suppressor isn't gonna cut the noise his rifle will make," Ortega replied. "We need something to cover it up…something natural,"

As if an answer, lighting flashed and thunder followed closely behind in the distance.

"Uh…never mind then," Ortega replied, understanding what the Russian was trying to explain.

Alexeyeva had also decided to use another plan.

"Give me the ZPM," She said to Mitchell.

The Colonel became wide-eyed after hearing the request.

"What, are you crazy?" He asked. "We need it,"

"And our enemies want it too,"

"So what are going to do?" Ortega asked. "Just hand them over the ZPM, no question asked?"

Alexeyeva smiled a bit, hoping to ease the tension of their situation.

"If I have a say in it, I won't," She replied. "But I will need a leverage, something to keep them at a distance,"

Everyone began to think, save for Daniel, who had been studying his notes since the conversation began, oblivious to the Russian's proposal.

Alexeyeva examined her bayonet closely. She admired its stainless steel reflection of what was left of the sun.

Mitchell, however, felt nervous.

"What do you plan to do with that knife, Ruski?" He asked.

Alexeyeva shrugged, placing her bayonet away.

"Use of firearms will give us away quicker than you can blink," She explained. "Bayonets have a tendency to be useful weapons,"

Ortega was confused with the Russian's jargon.

"Do you plan on killing every one of them with just that thing?" He asked.

Alexeyeva chuckled, picking up her Kalashnikov.

"Of course not, Sergeant," She replied, smiling. "I intend on using it to signal the Major,"

"Alone?" Ortega asked.

"Of course," Alexeyeva answered. "I can't have you captured or killed either,"

Mitchell shook his head.

"You're crazy, Ruski," He commented. "Everyone and their mother knows that soldiers never fight alone in enemy territory,"

The Russian was not convinced.

"First thing I learned in the academy, Colonel," She replied. "Fortunately, the Major will be waiting if he hasn't been captured."

Mitchell pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance at the Russian's stubbornness.

"Fine!" He commented. "Have it your way,"

Alexeyeva nodded, thanking the Colonel's cooperation.

"But we will stay at a close distance, creating plan B, in case things go south," Mitchell added, arming his P-90.

"Good," The Russian replied, nodding.

Alexeyeva looked at the C-4 explosive Mitchell gave her. Before strapping it onto the butt end of the ZPM, Mitchell attached the blasting cap onto the explosive.

"I like the theory of your idea, Ruski," He commented, handing the ZPM back to the Lieutenant Colonel. "But what if the C-4 blows up in your face?"

Alexeyeva shrugged, unsure of what she was to do if something of such did, in fact, occur.

"C-4 is a highly stable explosive, Colonel," She replied. "You know that,"

"Well, unless someone slips the trigger, there shouldn't be any problems." Ortega added.

_"Oi, Colonels,"_ Witkowski's voice echoed from their radios.

"Da, Major?" Alexeyeva radioed back.

_"Are we still good?"_

"Yep, Major," Mitchell replied. "We're all set; you're good to go,"

Leaving his rifle behind, Witkowski removed a C-4 explosive, of his own from his vest and slowly crept out from the brush. Moving quickly in a crouching position, the Major hid behind the Stargate, while making sure no one saw him in the process. Sentries moved back and forth, like robots, from post to post. They had set up camp in the single hour that had occupied the portal and its immediate vicinity. The Major could feel a smirk form on his face. This action, on the hostiles' part, left them open for potential targets. Which ones to choose, however, would be more difficult for him than it would be for the enemy to compensate for any secondary explosions. Still though, he had to decide.

He quickly made his way to his first target, a communications system. Odd, Witkowski thought, why use it if they have hand-held radios to begin with. He had no time to figure it out, as a patrol was coming his direction. Quickly sticking the explosive on the underside of the device, Witkowski fled before he could be discovered. Making his way, behind the supply creates and more equipment, the Major found what appeared to be oil drums. Witkowski couldn't help but shake his head. Why oil? He thought as he planted another explosive into a quickly dug hole next to the barrels. After doing so, something had caught his eye. He noticed that his teammates were tied up against each other, unconscious. The Major was about to move to his next target when one of them came to. It was Private Williams. Upon seeing the Major before her, only a few feet away, she tried to say something. However, Witkowski shushed her, whispering that help was on the way and she should play dead. The Canadian nodded and complied. Slowly reaching for his knife, Witkowski quickly placed it in the Canadian's hands.

"Try to be discreet," He told her.

Returning to his hiding place behind the gate, the Major, after noticing a patrol approaching, was able to listen onto the conversation that was happening only a few meters away from him.

"Do you think the weapons cache is on this planet?" One of the two patrolmen asked.

"Hell if I know," The other replied. "We're not even sure it's even a weapon to begin with,"

"But there is something here, right?"

"Perhaps, the ship only detected the use of the Stargate," The other added. "And with that probe being here…that only means that the people we captured are in fact the famous Tau'ri,"

"They must be after the weapon," The First replied.

"Good thing we got to them when we did,"

"Wait," The second began. "You smell that?"

"Ah ew," The first replied. "What's that stench…you puke or something,"

Then something made a squishy sound.

"Ah crap!" The first yelled, examining his shoe.

"What," The second asked.

"It's vomit!" The first replied.

"Oh damn,"

"Way to go,"

"Oh shut up,"

"You should clean that up," The second insisted.

The first nodded and began doing as such.

Witkowski nearly laughed at the commotion. Guess the Russian's first trip might actually be of use after all.

"As I was saying," The second began. "SG-1, the infamous group of the Tau'ri, only half of them are here, the other half must be at the temple."

"Don't worry," The first commented. "If they are, we'll find them,"

Alexeyeva was crouching behind a boulder, eyeing out through her binoculars, counting the number of heads that belonged to their adversary.

Mitchell and the others were several meters behind, keeping a low profile as to not arouse suspicion before it would be needed. They knew that they were a few minutes behind schedule for their plan to go into effect. However, they hoped that the Major had still not been captured; otherwise their plan would fall through the floor.

Pulling out her bayonet, Alexeyeva made her way through the vegetation towards the gate. Crawling through the plants and dirt, the Russian constantly tilted her knife back and forth, hoping to gain the Major's attention…and not the enemy's. A few moments later, lighting struck and thunder roared in the distance close behind. Then something grabbed the Russian's arm. She nearly squeaked before a hand clasped over her mouth.

"For sod's sake," A voice whispered into her ear. "How the bloody hell are you Special Forces?"

Then the hand released its grasp over the Russian's mouth.

"I'm FSB, not Spetsnaz," She replied.

"Liar," The voice replied.

"Good to see you again too, Major,"

Witkowski shook his head before continuing.

"You almost had my arse caught when you tried radioing me," He said to the Russian.

Alexeyeva shrugged.

"We had no choice, Major," She replied. "It was that or nothing,"

"Yeah, well, dekko," The Major said, signaling the Russian to look at the gate and its vicinity. "I placed C-4 in a few places here and there near the gate in order to keep the bad guys from the Stargate,"

"Anything good?" The Russian asked.

"Yep," Witkowski replied. "A few oil drums and Comm Equipment."

The Russian raised an eyebrow, confused with the Major's findings.

"Why would these people need fuel or communications?" She asked.

The Major nodded.

"Yeah, I got that feeling too," He added. "Not to mention that they know what a MALP looks like,"

"The probe?" Alexeyeva asked.

The Major nodded.

"They also know about SG-1," He added. "But who wouldn't,"

"Da," Alexeyeva replied.

Neither of them said anything until Witkowski nodded. He took out his detonator and tossed to the Russian.

"Think they'll buy your bluff?" The Major asked.

Alexeyeva examined the detonator in her hand.

"I don't intend on giving them anything until they give us our people back," She replied.

Witkowski smiled.

"Said it like a true leader," He added. "Don't mean anything coming out of your mouth though,"

The Russian shook her head at the comment.

"Just get back to your rifle, Major," She told him. "Shoot anyone who tries to fight,"

"We'll need them alive, Colonel," Witkowski replied.

"Then aim for the legs or arms," The Russian said back. "But make sure that suppressor is on your rifle,"

"Right oh, I already added the moderator to the barrel, ma'am,"

"Then let's get to work,"

The leader of their opposition was speaking with a subordinate about what was to be their next move.

"We should consider setting up camp next to the temple and call in for reinforcements from the ship." The subordinate told his leader.

The commander shook his head.

"No, the ship needs all the people they have to stay on board," He said, looking over a list of names that had accompanied the leader to this world. "We should, however, consider…"

"Commander, sir!" Someone yelled.

The leader and his subordinate approached the man who called his attention.

"Yes Sergeant?" The leader asked.

The man pointed into the distance and the other two looked at that direction. Approaching the group was a woman wearing a green uniform. Her face bore very noticeable scars, added with a grim expression.

In her right hand, she held something of value. The other, held her only bargaining chip. The others, who finally noticed this stranger, pointed their weapons at her in self-defense.

Alexeyeva could feel her throat swallow her saliva before her mouth went dry. She had been shot at, burned, electrocuted and interrogated, yet she never felt this much discomfort as she approached an entire platoon-sized force of aliens. Most of which, had their guns aimed at her and would surely not miss their first shot.

The man, who appeared to be in charge of the group, began to clap his hands.

"I applaud those who have guts to turn themselves in," He said, with a friendly smile.

"But I have to admit," He added. "I have never seen a woman take charge like this,"

Alexeyeva was confused with this man's comment.

"What are you talking about?" She asked. "What do you mean, 'take charge'?"

The man kept his smile.

"You are not part of SG-1, are you?" He asked. "Two of the captives from your world we have are from the team, but the third does not belong with them,"

"Is that your answer?" Alexeyeva asked, feeling her hand shaking.

The man shook his head.

"Of course not," He replied. "The woman we have captive is from a different team, SG-26, as it read,"

Then the man pointed to the Russian's patch.

"You're from SG-26 as well, and you seem the type, so that must make you their commander,"

With a natural reflex, Alexeyeva placed her hand over her team patch as if she had been exposed.

Clearly this man knew what he was saying, a clever one, she thought.

Now she knew that her plan just might collapse.

"Who are you," She asked.

The man shook his head.

"The bigger question," He replied.

"Is who are you?" The Russian hesitated.

She was trained to not give her name away when asked by the enemy, unless she was captured. Yet this moment she wasn't sure what to do. She never met an enemy combatant who was so civilized, so polite.

"It's not important," She replied.

The man shrugged.

"Perhaps," He replied. "But I'm only curious,"

"I'll tell you what is important though," Alexeyeva replied, returning to her grim look.

She held out the ZPM, only that it was attached with the C-4 explosive that Mitchell gave her.

"I want you to release my people and allow us to return to our world," She said to the leader.

He chuckled.

"Or what," The man asked. "You blow up the power device along with your self?"

Alexeyeva glanced at the ZPM for a moment before looking back at the leader. This, for her, was the crown jewel of her plan.

"You have one chance to take this device and leave us," She said to the enemy. "One chance,"

The man smirked. "Just like that, huh?" He asked.

"As simple as that, my friend," Alexeyeva replied, nodding.

The man nodded as well and had begun to approach the Russian. Once he got close enough, Alexeyeva stopped him.

"There is one small problem," She told him.

The man, suspicious, drew out his side arm.

"Yes?" He asked.

"Everyone has a problem of looking up,"

With a single toss, the ZPM went flying into the air at an angle.

The man and his subordinates followed the trajectory of the device as it flew. Just before it landed, however, Alexeyeva flipped over the safety cover for the trigger, and set off the explosives.

In a blink of an eye, Alexeyeva found herself surrounded by fire and explosions. Using her arm to protect herself from the heat and blast, the Russian dropped the detonator and pulled out her MP-443 pistol. She advanced further into the inferno, aiming her gun, with one hand, as she moved. She could hear shots ring out and people falling, screaming in pain. She smiled a bit, knowing that at least the Major was watching her back.

Williams cut out the restraints that had kept her, Teal'c and Vala pinned to the ground, after which, the trio scrambled to their feet, and began to fight off any stragglers. Teal'c struck a retreating man's head and knocked him to the ground.

"Good one, muscles," Vala commented.

Teal'c nodded and the two continued to fight.

Williams was busy though, as she spotted the ZPM just a few feet away from her. Quickly crawling through the hell that was above her head, she attempted to make her way to the alien power core. Just as she reached out for it, however, a foot stepped over her arm. When she looked up, in pain, she found herself looking at the business end of a pistol. It was the leader of the group. In what seemed forever, the Canadian's heart rate increased yet her breathing stopped.

"Sorry, doll face," The man said to her.

"But today isn't you–" A single energy blast impacted the man's arm that held his weapon.

Despite being rescued, Williams couldn't help but stare at the man who nearly killed her. He was yelling in pain but his eyes didn't leave Williams'.

"Private Williams!" Teal'c called out to her.

She said nothing, her joints frozen. She was far to scared to even move. Teal'c approached the Canadian.

"We must go," He said to her.

Williams, snapping out of trance, nodded and quickly grabbed the ZPM from the ground. She retreated with the alien back to what remained of the fight.

Mitchell and the others reached the site and engaged in combat with the remaining enemy sentries. Most surrendered, hoping not to follow some of their comrades.

"Well, it was nice of you boys to show up," Vala commented to their rescuers.

The Russian cleared her throat

"And lady," Vala added.

The Stargate was retaken by the members of the SGC.

The fires of the explosions stayed, burning through the oil while the enemy tended to their wounded. Alexeyeva placed her pistol away, noticing that the firearm was lighter than before. Witkowski jumped out from the treeline, with his sniper rifle in his hands, panting.

"Bollocks," He said, catching his breath. "We did this?"

Mitchell didn't have to nod to confirm the Major's question.

"Yep," The Colonel remarked. "We really did, haven't we,"

He eyed the Russian, who was looking at the Canadian, who in turn was sitting on the stairs at the gate.

Williams was scared stiff, holding onto the ZPM with dear life, her eyes still fixed on the man who nearly killed her.

The Russian approached her subordinate.

"Private Williams," She began. "Are you alright,"

The Canadian said nothing.

The Russian knelt down in front of the Private, hoping to knock some sense into her.

"Noa?" The Russian asked again, half-smiling in hopes of getting the Canadian to talk.

Williams opened her mouth but no words came out.

"I…" She tried to say. "I…"

"Don't worry, Private Williams,"

The Russian replied, placing her hand on Williams' shoulder.

"You survived," She told her.

"Maybe," The Canadian replied, shaking her head. "But what about next time,"

"Next time you will survive as well, and the next…and so forth,"

The Canadian repeated her previous statement, not convinced by the Russian's optimism.

"Daniel," Mitchell said to the archeologist. "Dial it up, we're going home,"

Daniel nodded and approached the Dial Home Device.

As he began to press the coordinates back to Earth, the teams heard one of the enemies using his radio.

"The gate has been lost!" He said into his communications device. "We need an orbital strike on my position, over!"

Everyone eyed the man with the radio.

_"No can do, Station,"_ The voice on the other end replied. _"Too many friendlies in the area, we're sending a squadron of fighters to your position, out,"_

Mitchell stared at Alexeyeva, who had done the same.

"JACKSON!" The colonel yelled. "Get that gate open!"

Daniel nodded, attempting to dial the gate faster. In the distance, as they could hear, the team heard a faint roaring sound getting louder and louder with each passing second.

"Are those Death Gliders?" The Russian asked Mitchell.

The Colonel nodded.

"Come on Jackson," He added.

Daniel rolled up his sleeve, revealing the Garage Door Opener, the transmitter that would be the only way to open the barrier on the other side.

The Stargate opened with a kawhoosh, just as the enemy fighter interceptors had came into view.

Daniel franticly typed his IFF code into the GDO. After a moment, Daniel announced that the code was successfully transmitted through the portal.

"Everybody through!" Witkowski yelled, aiming his rifle at the incoming gliders.

"Go, Major," Alexeyeva said back. "I'll make sure everyone gets through,"

The Major nodded and he and the others retreated through the portal.

"Let's go Ruski," Mitchell called to the Russian. "Time to go,"

As everyone made their way through the Stargate, The Russian followed.

The gliders were already upon them, however. Their cannons opened fire and the blasts impacted the ground closely behind the Russian. She could already see Mitchell enter the event horizon as she climbed up the stairs, her Kalashnikov in hand. Just as her skin came into contact with the portal, one of the Death Gliders fired an energy blast that had exploded only feet away from the Russian herself, and the impact threw the Lieutenant Colonel into the event horizon.

The feeling of being thrown into a wormhole didn't help the already uneasy ride back, as the Russian thought. Upon exiting the wormhole on the other end, however, she managed to keep her footing despite her momentum forcing her forward down the ramp. When Alexeyeva looked up, she found the rest of her people looking back at her. The Russian could barely breathe from the running and her adrenaline pumping within her skull might have tightened her blood vesicles.

Alexeyeva could also feel sweat trickling down her face and neck and her clothing drenched. Somehow, she wondered how she was still even standing. Behind her, the gate shut down with the event horizon disappearing.

"Yo, Ruski," Mitchell said to her. "You alright?"

The Russian nodded.

"I…"

She paused.

"Oh no!" Witkowski yelled. "Do not even dare puke this time,"

As if a response, the nauseating sensation slowly, but surely, faded away.

Alexeyeva sat down and leaned against the railing.

"I need a moment to breathe," She said, panting.

Mitchell nodded, in full agreement.

"Take all the time in the galaxy, Ruski," He told her. "You earned it,"


	15. A Jump Backwards

Chapter 15: A Jump Backwards

Stargate Command

12:55 P.M

Mitchell and Teal'c helped the Russian back up onto her feet. After thanking them, Alexeyeva proceeded down the ramp to catch up with someone she needed to talk to. Williams was glaring at the ZPM in her hands, feeling unsure of something.

"Are you ok?" Alexeyeva asked the Canadian once more.

Williams shrugged, not taking her eyes off the alien power core.

"I think I need to get some sleep, ma'am," She replied to the Russian.

The Lieutenant Colonel nodded, understanding what her subordinate was going through. Mitchell and the others had also gone down the ramp.

General Carter entered the gate room as the blast door retracted open.

"Colonel," She said to Mitchell. "What happened?"

Mitchell didn't say anything at first, in an attempt to delay long enough to come up with a decent answer.

"We got ambushed on the way out," He finally told her. "Don't know who they were but most likely they were Alliance,"

Carter was taken aback.

"Alliance?" She asked. "How the hell did they know about your mission?"

"They probably didn't, General," Alexeyeva replied, entering the conversation. "They must have discovered the Temple ruins on that world on their own,"

"The Alliance defiantly seems to know what they are doing," Witkowski replied, joining the conversation as well.

"They knew exactly where the temple was and when to strike; they nearly took the Zero Point Module we recovered."

"Wait…" Cater replied, eyeing the Canadian. "You found a ZPM?"

"Yes ma'am," Witkowski replied, pointing to Williams. "And one of the bastards nearly shot her point blank,"

Carter immediately became concerned with the Major's previous statement. She understood a soldier's psyche. Eying Williams' stillness, Carter became grim. She faced the others whom were facing her in turn.

"I want a full debrief in an hour," She said.

"Got it, Sam," Mitchell replied, saluting, before leading SG-1 out of the room.

SG-26 followed but Carter stopped Alexeyeva as the Russian's team left.

"I'm worried about Private Williams," The General said to the Lieutenant Colonel.

"No more than I, General Carter," The Russian replied. "I think someone should go talk to her,"

"Exactly what I was thinking," Carter replied as the two exited the room. "Maybe Teal'c might be able to help,"

The Russian raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"What can he do?" She asked.

"The man went through a lot in the past fifteen years, he knows what he's doing," Carter replied.

The two entered the control room, stopping behind the dialing computer.

"I'll speak with the man personally," Alexeyeva replied. "But I don't think Private Williams' fear would hold on to her for much longer,"

"It never hurts to ask anyway," Carter replied.

* * *

><p>The clock on a wall changed hands as time went by. It's been a long while since the debriefing was discussed and the reports filed. Now Alexeyeva stood before a phone on the wall. The Russian blankly stared at the phone as people traversed the hallway, some eyeing her as they walked by. She finally dug into her navy blue SGC uniform jacket pocket and pulled out a note. A note she kept from her weapons shipment. After unfolding the paper, Alexeyeva came face to face with the note once more. This time, however, she flipped the paper and found a number. This would lead her to a call with someone she promised to speak with again. Picking up the receiver, Alexeyeva dialed the number and patiently waited as she heard rings in her ear. The rings stopped and a voice answered the call.<p>

_"Hello?"_ It asked.

"I kept my promise, didn't I?" The Russian replied.

On the other end, a man stopped in his tracks. He took a deep breath, looking around the hall where he stood.

_"Damn it Natasha," _He spoke into his cell phone. _"Where have you been? It's been a month since you called," _

Natasha leaned her shoulder against the wall.

"I'm sorry, Igor," She replied. "But a lot has happened, a lot that I have learned,"

The man on the other side scoffed.

_"What is that supposed to mean?"_ He asked.

"I can't explain," The woman replied, knowing that her call was probably monitored by the American Air Force.

_"For god's sake, Natasha!"_ The man nearly yelled. _"What…"_

He paused, trying to calm himself down.

_"Sorry for lashing out like that,"_

Natasha smiled a bit.

"Don't be," She replied. "If you were in my position, I too would have gone a bit mad,"

_"Yeah,"_ The man chuckled. _"Since I'm no longer SVR, I sorta feel naked without all the information at my fingertips."_

"You have a good job working for your Aerospace Company," Natasha replied. "You don't need to go back,"

_"True, but,"_ The man added. _"Most of our products are going to the Americans and I have a feeling that whatever it is…you're part of it,"_

"There's no need to dig," Natasha spoke into the phone. "I'm fine and I think it's best for you to not get yourself entangled in all this,"

_"Like you were when that Spetsnaz team of yours got into a fight because you were with them,"_

What was supposed to be a half-humored joke shot through Alexeyeva like a bullet.

Lowering her phone slightly, her eyes fixed into the wall in front of her, Natasha's mind going back to something that she was hoping to not have to remember.

* * *

><p><em>Four Years Earlier<em>

_South Ossetia, Georgian-Russian Border, Earth_

_She was the only woman on that plane, a plane that held some of Russia's elite forces. Only a previous month was a thirty-year-old Major Natasha Alexeyeva accepted to be part of Spetsnaz, a controversial decision that haunted the woman in question. From graduation up until take off, years apart, that woman only served to protect her country from domestic threats and attacks. That morning she was about to embark on a mission beyond her nation's borders. It was the final day of the 'South Ossetia War' between the nations of Georgia and the Russian Federation. Of course, at the time, no one on that plane realized that it was going to be the last day of direct fighting. It wouldn't matter as much as it would for ordinary soldiers, as it did for the nine Special Forces operatives. Due to the fact that Alexeyeva was part of that team; they would only complete one objective then go home. It would also be the only time Alexeyeva saw combat beyond the borders of her homeland._

_On the plane, on their way to their drop point, everyone glared at the newcomer every now and again. To keep herself away from the growing disdain against her from her teammates, Alexeyeva pulled out a photo from her vest. Through her oxygen mask, she smiled to herself. The photo, as Natasha looked, showed herself holding her year-old daughter at her first birthday. Two months later, Alexeyeva found herself crossing a border in a transnational conflict. Out of nowhere, someone slapped their hand against Alexeyeva's, forcing her to drop the photo. _

_"What the hell!" She yelled through the radio. _

_One of her teammates, Sergeant Vasili Ivashov, chuckled. _

_"What's with you and that photo?" He asked with a smug look on his face, his voice heard through her earpiece. Alexeyeva shoved the man back, irritated. _

_"None of your damn business," She replied. _

_Another man, Junior Sergeant Sergei Balashov, stepped into the confrontation, placing his hand in front of Ivashov in hopes of stopping further fighting. _

_"Back off," Balashov cut it. "Leave the lady alone," _

_The others also stood up, in hopes of being ready to fight one another if need be, over the presence of a woman, of all things. _

_The Second in Command, Lieutenant Colonel Roman Antipov, got into the crowd._

_"Everyone," He yelled through the radio. "Just sit down and prepare to drop…no one is going to fight one another just because some 'woman' is in our midst,"_

_"Understood, Podpolkovnik," Ivashov replied, taking a seat along with the others. _

_He wasn't going to allow the matter to drop, despite being told to do so. Balashov, as an afterthought, picked up the photo and returned it to the Major. _

_"What's her name?" He asked, curious. _

_"Liya," Alexeyeva replied, somewhat hesitantly. "She turned one recently," _

_A moment later, the commander of the unit, Colonel Mikhail Volkov, stepped into the rear chamber of the plane. _

_"Gentlemen…lady," He began. "I'm sure you all know why we are here," _

_He made his way to the back of the plane. _

_"An arms dealer who goes by the codename 'Mistletoe' has been reported to be selling weapons to the Georgian government, who in turn are supplying their men." _

_The Colonel walked forward, giving his briefing as if it were to be a memorable speech._

_"We are not here to kill him, only capture and arrest, the Kremlin will prosecute him accordingly," _

_He then turned to the woman, whom was paying attention the entire time. _

_"God only knows how someone like you got into this position," He told her. "In my opinion, this isn't a job for the likes of you and that is an honest opinion," _

_Alexeyeva looked down, a bit shameful, yet she understood. _

_"But your presence is an experiment and one I'm willing to allow," The Colonel went on. "Despite the fact that you should be home, taking care of your daughter," _

_The Colonel was looking at the others now. "I don't understand why everyone is on edge because of the Major, she is the reason we only have to do this one thing before we can go home,"_

_"But we can do more if not for her," Warrant Officer Boris Vitsin called out. _

_The Colonel shook his head. _

_"It's too late to point fingers as we are already at a crossroads," He added._

_"Five minutes to drop point," The pilot's voice boomed over the loud speaker. _

_The Colonel nodded, returning to the end of the plane. _

_"Everyone, check someone's oxygen supply," He spoke loudly. _

_Alexeyeva and the others stood up, checking for any equipment faults. _

_"Major Alexeyeva, Sergeant Glazkov, help me with the beacon," The Colonel radioed the two. "Warrant Officer Zhukov, get the platform down." _

_The other man nodded, hitting the control panel to open the back door. _

_"On a count of three, we go, understand," The Colonel asked the two soldiers beside him._

_"Yes Sir!" The two replied, nodding. _

_Glazkov looked over to his left and found Alexeyeva, seeming worried. _

_"Nervous?" He asked her. _

_The Major nodded slightly. _

_"A bit, Sergeant," She replied. _

_"The beacon is broadcasting five by five," The Colonel said to the two. _

_"Team's oxygen levels are green," Antipov added, checking his wrist computer._

_"Set your height scales to 530 meters," The Colonel said to his team. "There is no wind today, so we won't have to worry about being blown off course,"_

_"Ten seconds to drop!" Antipov said through the radio. _

_Alexeyeva held onto the beacon with dear life, to which had amused Glazkov. _

_"Just follow the Polkóvnik, Major," He told her. _

_"GO, GO, GO!" The Colonel yelled, as he and his two subordinates, leading the charge out through the back of the plane. _

_Glazkov and Alexeyeva helped the Colonel push the beacon out and soon they found themselves falling and the sun beaming its rays directly into the Major's eyes._

* * *

><p>4 Years Later<p>

Stargate Command, Colorado, USA

_"Natasha," _

Alexeyeva heard Igor say through the phone.

_"Are you there?"_

Alexeyeva shook her head as she left her trance.

"Yes, I'm still here,"

_"Look, I'm glad you called and maybe I don't know where you are now or what you are doing…but at least know that I'm here whenever you want to talk,"_

"That is good to know," Natasha replied. "I'll be sure to talk to you again as soon as I can,"

_"You sound tense, did something happen?"_ Alexeyeva froze once more, thinking back to when Williams was nearly killed.

"A…" She tried to speak. "Someone almost died today and it's been traumatizing for them,"

_"I see,"_ The man replied, sighing. _"I'm sure that you can help him or her,"_

_"I hope so,"_ Natasha commented.

Mitchell turned a corner and found the Russian speaking on the phone.

"Hey Ruski!" He called out to her.

The Lieutenant Colonel, caught off guard, quickly clamped the microphone on the phone with her hand. She spun her head around to see the Colonel raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, Colonel?" She asked, keeping her hand over the microphone.

"Jackson wants to speak with you about the coordinates you found,"

"Tell him I'll be there in a moment," Alexeyeva replied, nodding.

Mitchell shrugged, unsure of how to take the Russian's response.

"Alright, Ruski, see ya there," He replied, going back the way he came.

Alexeyeva returned to her conversation once the Colonel was gone.

"I need to go," She told the man on the other end.

"_I understand, talk to you soon,"_ The man replied.

"See you later," Natasha said, before she hanged the phone back up.

Taking a deep breath, Alexeyeva turned to where Mitchell once stood, and had gone after the Colonel.

Upon entering Daniel Jackson's lab, on sub-level 18, Alexeyeva was nearly taken aback. The collection of artifacts and relics surprised the Russian with the vast number and variety. Books were littered on the table and shelves that hugged the walls. It became a wonder as to how the archeologist was able to keep track of everything in that small room of his. Sitting at the table, Jackson and Vala were going over the pictures, the ones that the Russian took while they were at the temple, from the laptop. Mitchell stood near-by watching the images appear and then disappear.

"Have you found anything of interest, Doctor?" Alexeyeva asked, joining Daniel at the computer.

The archeologist sipped coffee from his mug before he began.

"Something…" He spoke.

Turning the laptop towards the Russian, Daniel pointed at the inscriptions on the wall.

"The dialects written on those walls are of Old East Slavic," He began.

The Russian stopped him, however.

"Last I heard," She replied. "Old Russian is a dead language,"

"You'd be correct," Daniel continued. "Check this out,"

He pointed to the screen for the Russian to see.

"Before what we think was the time when the Ancients came to P3E-610," Daniel added. "Guess what the indigenous population looked like,"

Another picture appeared on screen. One that Alexeyeva was only mildly familiar with.

"What Slavic people from the middle ages appeared as," She said, examining the inscriptions. "15th Century perhaps,"

Mitchell, surprised by the Russian's intellect, asked about how she knew all this when she only had a major in Bio-Chemistry.

"I noticed some of my sister's books about things like these," The Russian replied. "I decided to read some of them,"

"Didn't think they'd come in handy, did ya?" Mitchell asked.

The Russian shook her head.

"Maybe we can find some valuable technology," Vala commented. "Or treasure we can salvage,"

Daniel could only shake his head.

"But it doesn't make any sense," He added. "The Gou'ald left at around 3000 B.C. so now way they could have taken anyone from any Slavic speaking region during the 15th century."

"Perhaps these 'Ancients' took some of the Russian people," Alexeyeva commented.

"I don't think so," Daniel replied.

"How can you be sure?"

"I'd think I know," The archeologist answered, referring to the time he ascended.

"Maybe we can ask these Slavic people who were taken when we find them," Vala added.

"Don't get too self assured of yourself," Alexeyeva replied to the alien. "We don't know where these people had gone off to,"

At that point, Daniel's face lit up.

"That's where your last picture comes in, Colonel," He interrupted the Russian's exit.

The Russian returned to the laptop that laid before the archeologist.

"The one about the wall, Doctor?" She asked.

"Those were gate coordinates, Ruski," Mitchell replied for Jackson.

"That's what they were?" The Russian asked.

"If the people of P3E-610 have gone there and haven't left," Daniel explained. "We can find them and find out what happened…if they survived,"

"But it wouldn't be like they just simply died…would it?" The Russian asked.

Daniel shrugged, unsure of the answer.

"Whatever the case, Ruski," Mitchell cut in. "We should get a move on and get there before the Alliance gets smart and heads out as well,"

Alexeyeva shook her head.

"Nyet, Colonel Mitchell," She replied.

Mitchell leaned forward, wide-eyed, and shocked by what he just heard.

"Excuse me?" He asked, somewhat disgusted.

"You heard me Colonel," The Russian replied again. "If what Doctor Jackson says about their being Slavic mythology involved, then you'll need me and my team,"

She took one step forward, pointing her left index finger at the Colonel.

"Right now, one of my own is in a hard place and I won't have her replaced…so until she recovers, we don't make our move,"

"So that's it?" Mitchell asked, eyebrow raised. "You're just going to allow the Alliance get a head start,"

The Russian backed away, scoffing.

"If we're lucky and this is just a small set-back for Williams…the Lucian Alliance will not be able to get to this new world before we do," She replied.

With a simple spin on her heel, Alexeyeva walked out the lab.

"Have Doctor Jackson look into some of the mythology until then," She said over her shoulder. "It never hurts to have another expert."

Mitchell scoffed and shook his head.

"You hear that, Jackson?" He asked the archeologist.

"She thinks she knows everything,"

Daniel only shrugged.

"There isn't a whole extensive history on Slavic myth," He replied. "She might actually know more than I."

"Oh that's just crazy talk, Daniel," Vala replied. "No one is better than you."


	16. Little Miss Imperfect

Chapter 16: Little Miss (Im)perfect

Gym-Room, Stargate Command

One…Two…

One…Two…

Noa Williams repeated those words in her head as she threw the common 'One-Two' punch at the man before her, that following morning. Only three minutes into the sparring match and she could already feel the sweat forming inside her gloves. Her hair became drenched inside her helmet and her mouth full with the mouth-piece. A fist was headed her direction and she ducked, keeping her hands close to her face for protection. In retaliation, Williams threw a jab punch into the center mass of the man. At this point, for her at least, aiming for the head became too difficult, too tiresome.

"You show a strong determination, Private Williams," Teal'c complimented. "But you seem hasty in the execution of your attacks,"

The woman snorted, throwing another punch at her partner, who in turn seamlessly dodged it.

"I gotta get on top of my A-game, sir," She replied, throwing another punch. "If I can't take down the target before he does the same, what good am I?"

The man said nothing, protecting himself from the strikes the Canadian threw.

"Look," She replied, irritated by the man's silence. "I screwed up yesterday and I'd be dead if it weren't for you, so thanks,"

No response.

"Damn it, sir, why are we doing all this if you won't even speak to me,"

Another strike, another doge. Noa was beginning to wonder if this alien she was sparring could see into the future.

"Colonel Alexeyeva has asked me to speak with you about what happened," Teal'c finally replied.

Noa stopped and placed her hands down, only to be knocked to the floor.

"Ah what the hell man!" She said, getting back up. "I thought I stopped the fight."

"Indeed," Teal'c replied. "But I have not,"

"A-hole," Noa mumbled, wiping a thin line of blood from her lip.

"Are you alright, Private Williams," Teal'c asked, concerned about the Canadian's bleeding lip.

Williams ignored the man's concern, feeling that it would show weakness if she didn't.

"Look big guy," She began, placing her left hand in front of her to distance herself from the Alien. "I don't need the Colonel to have you watch my back nor does she have to herself…I just need time to get over it,"

"Do you think that is all it takes, Private Williams," Teal'c asked.

Noa didn't reply. She didn't because she already knew what the answer was and so did Teal'c, these was no need to waste her breath.

"You can't ignore what has happened to you," The alien warrior added. "You have done what you were supposed to,"

"Yeah right," Noa retorted. "Up until that SOB gotten the advantage I should have been able to avoid,"

"It was misfortune, nothing more,"

"I should have seen him coming…I should have been able to take him down even if he had me at gun point, I should have–"

"Done something?" Teal'c asked, filling in the Private's unfilled sentence. "You most certainly would have been killed,"

Noa didn't say anything.

"You work as a team, not alone, Private Williams," Teal'c continued. "A wise Jaffa once told me: 'We do battle as one but we never fight alone',"

Noa tasted her lip to check for any more blood. There was none.

"Must have been a smart guy," She replied. "And he does have a point,"

"Now do you see why you must rely on your allies to work together?" The man asked.

Noa didn't want to vain the man's efforts to make her feel better, despite already seeing herself as a screw up. It was a feeling she thought she buried long ago. A feeling…well, she wouldn't openly talk about, not until now. She gestured another round in sparring and they resumed.

"Yes sir," She replied, unsure of how the man would take it. She threw another punch and missed. "I get it…loose our individuality so we feel better if we mess up and just blame the entire team,"

The man raised an eyebrow, confused.

"Like it or not, sir," Noa clarified. "I take responsibility for every mistake I make and no one else,"

"Then you fail to see my point," Teal'c replied, striking once more.

Noa dodged and thrown another 'One-Two' punch.

"Or maybe I'm not cut out for this job," She replied.

Teal'c became confused. He wasn't sure what Williams had meant and so he inquired.

"What I mean," Williams began, explaining herself to the alien. "Is that I will never be good enough like the rest of you,"

She then threw another punch and missed entirely, so much that the momentum threw her forward and off her feet. She found her self on the floor with her hands and knees as support.

"See what I mean," She mumbled quietly.

Teal'c looked down the Canadian, not understanding the soldier's tone.

"All that is required is practice, Private Williams," The Alien told her. "Then you'll get better,"

"I've been telling myself that for seven years," Williams replied, still with her hands and knees on the floor. "You have no idea what it's like to try so damn hard…and it all just collapses on you,"

She stood up, albeit slowly.

Staring at the man she was sparring against, Williams backed away until her legs bumped into the side of the bench. Falling onto the seat, Williams ripped her helmet off her head and tossed into onto the floor in anger.

"Would you like to rest, Private Williams," Teal'c asked.

The Canadian nodded.

"I would, sir," She replied, grabbing her water bottle off the floor.

She took a sip before placing the bottle back to where she found it then placed her elbows on her knees and sat there, staring at the floor. Her hair was soaked while fatigue kept her breathing for air. Teal'c also sat on the bench, sitting straight, eyeing the room they sat it.

"Have you tried to do something, which you worked so hard for, only for it to not go anywhere and everyone blamed you for being the weak link?" Noa asked the man sitting next to her.

The man said nothing, as expected by the Canadian.

She shook her head, yet she laughed and half-smiled.

"Then you are deserted, alone in a vast emptiness and no gives a rat's ass," She added.

Reluctantly, Noa twisted her left arm for Teal'c to see, as an illustration.

It was covered with scars.

"It doesn't help much when there's a sharp object sitting right in front of you either," She told him.

Teal'c tilted his head slightly, confused and curious at what the woman was trying to tell him.

"Thankfully," She continued, ignoring the man's confusion. "It stopped after I graduated high-school,"

She then turned her arm back to its regular position.

"A clean slate, a new day…a new life,"

She shook her head.

"Clearing up bomb sites defiantly seemed to fit the bill, at least right up until they brought me here,"

Tears began to form in her eyes as she continued.

"When I met the Colonel and the team…I thought my prayers were answered,"

Teal'c stayed silent, allowing the Canadian to continue.

"To be accepted, to be appreciated…when the Colonel came to my room and asked me if I'd like to join her,"

She then turned her head to Teal'c.

"She's Special Forces and yet she was willing to bring me with her, and then you saved my sorry ass when I almost got shot out there," Noa added. "Now I know that I want to be here, with people who don't discriminate,"

"I would have done the same for anyone, Private Williams, any of us would," Teal'c replied. "We are all working together for a cause,"

"That," Noa replied. "And we kick alien butt in style while traveling the galaxy, the final frontier,"

"Indeed," Teal'c replied. "We all have a purpose in doing so,"

Williams stood back up, this time smiling.

"I want you to know," She said to the alien. "This doesn't change my attitude about what happened…but I'm glad I was to get something off my chest,"

Her tears began to trickle down yet her smile did not fade away.

"And at least I know everyone here is willing to look out for one other, and that's good enough for me,"

Teal'c bowed his head in acknowledgement.

"I'm sure Colonel Alexeyeva will be pleased to hear that," He stated.

Noa nodded, crying yet smiling with joy. She placed her hands on her hips and looked around the room.

"I'm hungry," She commented. "And I'd go for anything they got in the mess hall,"

She turned on her heel, grabbing her things.

As she left for the exit, rubbing her towel over her head, she looked back to see the man still sitting where he was.

"It was nice sparring with you, Sir," She said.

Then Noa was gone.


	17. The Hurt

Chapter 17: The Hurt…

Sub-Level 14, Stargate Command

Ortega shot up, completely taken by storm from the news Alexeyeva presented him and Witkowski.

"Santa Madre de Dios!" He squeaked. 'Holy Mother of God'.

The Major frowned, bitter at the information, and shook his head in disbelief.

"Are you sure that's what he said?" He asked.

The Lieutenant Colonel nodded.

"Da, Major," She replied. "Teal'c gave enough detail that I knew what he was referring to,"

Ortega sank his head under his hands, feeling ashamed of himself.

"Now I really feel bad for the chica," He mumbled. "With all those jokes I threw her way,"

Witkowski spun on his chair towards the Sergeant, crossing his arms.

"Most of them weren't even that good," He replied.

"Heh," Ortega replied, rolling his eyes. "At least I try,"

The Major could only shake his head.

"Don't," He replied. "Seriously."

Ortega leaned against the table, facing the other two.

"But what do we do?" The Spaniard asked.

The Major shrugged.

"What can we do?" He asked.

The Sergeant scratched his chin, thinking.

"I don't get it," He said, referring to his confusion about how the sudden change of Williams' mood between their first day and now.

"I mean…she's a–"

"NYET!" The Colonel cut in, placing her right hand to stop the Sergeant's sentence. "Do not dare say what I know you're going to say!"

The Sergeant gulped, nervous at the Russian's sudden raise of tone.

"We will not call her that," She added. "The last thing we need on our minds is the fact that one of our own is…"

The Colonel was cut off as the door opened. Stepping inside was Private Williams in a fresh set of clothing.

"Sorry I didn't make it earlier," She said, closing the door behind her.

She gave the smile that she had shown since the team's inception.

"I was in the middle of lunch when I remembered that you and the guys wanted to start talking about our next move against those bastards,"

The Russian and the others nearly dropped their mouths when they were surprised by the Canadian's sudden appearance. The Colonel, in honest opinion, could have sworn that Williams overheard the entire conversation and that the only reason she was there was to confront the rest of the team.

"Ah, Private Williams," The Russian said, smiling uneasily. "Um…we're glad you could join us,"

Noa scratched her head, herself confused.

"What's with all the faces?" She asked, referring to the sudden shock among her teammates.

None of them said anything.

"You all like as if someone just died," Noa added.

"It does," Ortega commented, in a sarcastic manner. "Doesn't it,"

Witkowski punched the Sergeant's arm in response.

"Bloody moppet," The Englishman coughed out at him.

Noa sighed, realizing that her secret was discovered. Her smile faded and her head tilted over.

"I should have known that alien dude was gonna spill it," She mumbled, grabbing a chair from the desk nearby and sitting on it.

"Then there is no longer a point in lying to ourselves, is there, Private Williams?" Alexeyeva asked, her expression stern.

The Canadian shook her head, agreeing with the Colonel. Then she stood up, looking at her team.

"I'll be right back," She told them. "I want to show you all something,"

Williams left the room as silence was all that was left.

Ortega rubbed his arm, mumbling in Spanish.

"Oh stop your bitching," Witkowski replied, rolling his eyes. "It's not like I hit you that hard,"

"Easy for to say, Major," Ortega replied, still rubbing his arm.

"Have you been hitting a punching bag recently, like _really_ hard?"

The Major scoffed.

"I got one standing right next to me," He replied.

Then Ortega shifted his position to be further away from the Englishman which caused a chuckle from the Major.

"Are either of you curious about what Noa wants to show us?" The Russian cut into the conversation in hopes of changing the subject. Both men shrugged.

"It's anyone's guess at this point, Colonel," The Spaniard replied.

The trio didn't know what to make of what the Canadian brought back when she returned. In her hands, was a box which she held closely. Noa methodically handed it to the Colonel, whom was surprised that she was handed the box.

"You can open it, if you'd like," The Canadian said to her.

Alexeyeva nodded and did as advised.

The Major and Sergeant also joined in, behind the Colonel, and peered inside. The contents made all three raise their eyebrows.

"What is all this?" The Russian asked.

"Inside," Noa spoke quietly, looking away. "Are the things that almost killed me,"

Ortega pulled out a Subscriber Identity Module card, normally used for phones, from the box.

"Interesante," He mumbled, examining the object.

"Bomb parts, am I right?" The Major asked, taking his own piece.

Williams nodded.

"Some were recovered from the IEDs after we detonated them ourselves," She replied.

"Anything from the first time you had to manually disarm a bomb yourself?" The Russian asked.

"Most of what I have actually is," The bomb-specialist replied.

Witkowski seemed a bit touched, given his previous history with such devices.

"It's kinda strange, really," He commented. "That all this duff can be turned into the number one killer our soldiers face over seas,"

The Russian wasn't as excited.

"This is truly interesting," She added, shaking her head. "But why on Earth would you want to show us this?"

Everyone was now eyeing the Colonel, thinking she somehow insulted the Canadian.

Noa suddenly became seemingly interested about something that was on the desk.

"I feel that I need to get someone to know about what's under the 'happy-go-lucky' girl thing." She replied as she crossed her arms, keeping her eyes away from the others.

"Or maybe I just want people to care,"

The Colonel nodded.

Placing her hand back into the box to pull something else out, she found something…depressing.

Almost immediately, Noa reached out and grabbed the object out of the Russian's hand, hiding it in her pocket before anyone else could see.

"What was that?" Ortega asked the Colonel, curious.

Glancing once at the Canadian, who shook her head, Alexeyeva shrugged.

"Nothing of 'importance'," She lied. "Let's just give everything back to Williams,"

The Russian had begun taking back some of the things her team took and returned them into the box. Before anyone could say anymore, the alarms started blaring, followed by Harriman saying _"SG-26 to the control room"_ over the loud speakers.

"Wonder why they would be calling us," Ortega commented.

"We should go and check it out," Williams replied, leading the team out of the room.

Witkowski and Ortega looked at their commanding officer, who in turn looked back. They could see the fear on each other's faces. Fearing what, was the question. As the Major and the Sergeant followed the Canadian, Alexeyeva was the last one to leave. Looking one last time at the box on the table, the Colonel frowned as she did. Finally leaving the room, the Russian would later realize that she would never get a chance to ask Williams why she decided to show the box to her or the team.

Or why show it to them now.


	18. Celsius Zero Part 1

Chapter 18: Celsius Zero (Part 1)

Sub-Level 28, Stargate Command

SG-26 walked quickly towards the control room as the alarms continued to sound throughout the halls.

"What do you think happened?" The Major asked.

No one answered as they made their way towards their destination. Upon stepping up the stairs, the team found the gate already active. When she looked to her left, Alexeyeva noticed Carter and Mitchell looking at the gate in wonder.

"Something wrong?" She asked the General.

Carter looked back at the Russian, shaking her head.

"We are testing out the set of coordinates you recovered," The General replied, staring out at the gate as it spun.

"Chevron 4 engaged," Harriman announced as the fourth symbol was locked into the gate.

The Russian nodded as a reply.

"I see," She added.

"Is SG-1 going with us?" Witkowski asked.

"Chevron 5 engaged,"

Mitchell shook his head.

"Sorry pal," He replied. "But your training wheels go off today,"

"Too bad," Ortega added, smiling. "We defiantly are going to need help if we keep getting ambushed from the Alliance hombres,"

The Russian could only roll her eyes.

"Chevron 6 engaged,"

"There can't be any way that the Alliance could have gotten hold of the coordinates if the temple caved in," Mitchell thought aloud.

"Not unless they dug it out," Alexeyeva commented.

"Maybe," Mitchell replied.

"Chevron Seven locked,"

The kawhoosh was still something the Russian was trying to get used to. The fact that it was only the third time she saw it activate didn't help either. This time, however, she only felt herself lean back and blink.

"Wormhole established General," Harriman said, after reading his instruments.

"At least the address is valid so that's a good start," Ortega mumbled to whoever would listen.

"Ready to deploy the MALP," The technician said.

Carter nodded and gave the command for the MALP to be sent through the event horizon. Everyone watched as the probe rolled up the ramp and towards the blue puddle. Computers beeped as the MALP exited the gate on the other end.

"Receiving telemetry in..." Harriman said, eyeing the screen. "3…2…1…"

The first thing they all saw, once the video feed began transmitting was ice and snow blowing past the MALP's camera.

"Ma'am," The Technician began, looking at his Commanding Officer.

"What did you get?" Carter asked.

"Temperature is at 32 degrees Fahrenheit and viable oxygen is being picked up," Harriman answered.

"Alright then," Carter replied. "Have the probe look around for anything that might suggest life."

"Understood ma'am,"

* * *

><p>Briefing Room, Sub-Level 27, Stargate Command<p>

Alexeyeva read through the reports from the MALP as everyone else did the same.

"An Ice world," Ortega randomly commented, smiling at the Colonel. "Not a long way from casa is it, Ruso?"

The Russian only hummed an acknowledgment.

"Uh-huh,"

"All that snow and ice…"

"Uh-huh,"

"Plenty of tanks rolling down Red Square every victory day,"

"Uh-huh,"

"You're not being offended are you?"

The Russian shook her head.

"You make no sense," She replied. "Therefore, your humor, falls flat,"

"Who said I was making a joke?" Ortega asked. "Who knows, maybe I was going to ask you if you attend it?"

"Oi," Witkowski cut in. "Knock it off, both of you,"

The two looked at the Major, who was still reading through the file as if nothing happened.

"If you two darlings are done," He continued. "I found out that the gate on the other end is on nothing but an iceberg," Witkowski scoffed. "If you could even call it that,"

Jackson placed down his folder and looked at the others.

"If the people of P3E-610 did in fact come here and haven't left," He added. "Where are they?"

"One step at a time, Doctor," The Russian answered. "We have to determine whether or not they are still alive,"

General Carter nodded.

"Then it's settled," She said. "SG-26, you have a go, find out what happened to those people,"

* * *

><p>Disembarkation Room<p>

The Stargate had begun to spin twenty five minutes after it's last activation.

"_Chevron 1 engaged,"_

Alexeyeva felt the heaviness of her arctic uniform on her shoulders. The emitting heat from the clothing made her sweat more than she ever had. When she looked at her teammates however, she was surprised to find that none of them were bothered by the uncomforting warmth, especially Williams, whom was already used to wearing heavy equipment.

"_Chevron 2 engaged,"_

"You seem tense," Ortega commented to his commanding officer.

The Russian nodded.

"Da," She replied, checking her AK for defects.

Ortega then simply shrugged, which the Colonel took notice.

"Something wrong?" The Russian asked.

"_Chevron 3 engaged,"_

Ortega frowned.

"I'm worried about the lady," He said, eyeing the Canadian, who was watching the gate spin. "I don't know what she said to that alien hombre but I know this: Her mind isn't all there."

The Russian raised an eyebrow.

"What are you saying?" She asked.

"_Chevron 4 engaged,"_

"What I'm saying, Colonel," Ortega explained. "Is that…"

"Try not to think about it, Sergeant," The Russian tried to assure him. "Private Williams won't do harm…"

The Lieutenant Colonel paused, beginning to feel unsure of herself.

"I…I'll make sure of it,"

"_Chevron 5 engaged,"_

"Can you?" Ortega asked.

"Can you keep her from…"

"Zat-knis, Sergeant," Alexeyeva snapped. 'Shut up'

She suddenly became stern, determined. She took one glance at the Canadian, who was still eyeing the Stargate, before turning her attention back to the Spaniard.

"You never doubted me before, have you?"

"_Chevron 6 engaged,"_

"Trust me, Sergeant Ortega," She continued.

"This team will not loose anyone today or tomorrow or any other day."

"_Chevron 7 locked,"_

Alexeyeva closed her eyes as the kawhoosh exploded from the gate, reopening them as the kawhoosh receded.

The Russian looked back at the control room, where Harriman was telling the General that the vicinity around the gate on the other end was still safe.

"_SG-26, you have a go,"_ The General said to the embarking team. "_Good luck out there,"_

Alexeyeva saluted Carter before she followed the rest of her team up the ramp. Before the Russian stepped through the event horizon, she looked back one last time. Placing her scarf over her mouth, she turned back to the blue portal and stepped through, anticipating the same uncomforting feeling of traveling through a wormhole.

* * *

><p>New Designation: N7M-321<p>

02:00 P.M Zulu Time

Witkowski knelt at the edge of the iceberg, looking out at the distance.

After the team had exited the gate, they discovered that not only were they were surrounded by ocean but also that they were also moving down the river.

"Major," The Russian called out from the gate.

The Englishman turned his head around.

"Did you see anything interesting?"

"Nothing," The Major replied. "Just bloody ocean is all."

At the gate, Alexeyeva nodded and began to explore the small icy island.

Ortega shivered as he rubbed his hands over his arms aggressively to keep warm.

"Maldición que se hace frío," He mumbled. 'Damn, it's cold!'

His breath could be seen ascending into the sky, eventually becoming one with the air.

Williams was using a thermometer to determine the temperature of the water.

"Private Williams," The Russian said, approaching the Canadian.

"Anything?"

Noa shook her head."The water is pretty cold but not cold enough to be solid ice…obviously." She replied.

"So we can't advance beyond this iceberg." The Russian said, sighing.

"I don't think we should anyway," Noa replied.

"And why is that?" The Russian asked.

"Why? Well, because look around you," Noa answered, waving her hands around. "We're on an _iceberg_!"

Alexeyeva scratched her chin.

"I can see that, Private," She replied. "But this small piece of ice is still big enough to search for clues or the such…we should go look for them,"

"How?" Noa asked.

The Russian pulled a shovel from her backpack and tossed it to the Canadian.

"Carefully," She answered with a smile.

Ortega could feel his finger tips become numb as he as he swept snow off the ice.

"Ah," He moaned, exhaling on his hands. "I knew I shouldn't have brought fingerless gloves,"

Noa laughed.

"Got cocky again, Sarge?" She asked, pulling out snow with her shovel.

Ortega waved his right around.

"Nah, I just felt like being a bad-ass," He replied, sarcastically.

"And look where that got you," Witkowski replied with the same tone.

Ortega chuckled and continued to dig with his hands.

"You can use the shovel if it helps," Noa replied.

"Do you have full gloves?" Ortega asked.

"Duh,"

"Then give it here," Noa tossed the shovel to the Spaniard, who had begun to dig much faster than before.

"Careful now sunshine," Witkowski said. "You're gonna burn yourself out before you have to,"

"Since when did you care?" Ortega asked.

The Major rolled his eyes.

"Since I was assigned to watch over you cheeky little monkeys,"

"You're confidence in all of us is heart touching, Major Witkowski," The Russian called from the other side of the iceberg.

"Don't flatter yourself Colonel," The Englishman replied. "I still don't trust you,"

"I think that is the first time you openly admitted that," The Russian replied. "So much for that cooperation,"

"Hey, I think I got something!" Ortega exclaimed as his shovel hit something solid.


	19. Celsius Zero Part 2

Sorry for being on hiatus for a while, so I'm back with more chapters about the new guys.

Also: This is NOT an April fools joke

So here it is:

* * *

><p>Chapter 19: Celsius Zero (Part 2)<p>

N7M-321

02:05 Zulu Time

Alexeyeva and the others looked into the hole that Ortega had dug up.

"What the hell is that?" Williams asked.

"I don't know," Ortega replied.

Digging inside, the Sergeant pulled up an object from the depths of the frozen island.

"But whatever it is," He continued, examining the object in his hands. "It's not all that heavy,"

The Sergeant examined the object once he had set it down.

"It's a box," Witkowski commented, referring to what was seemingly obvious.

"Well, it is hollow and I think there is a way to open it," Ortega continued.

"Yeah, it's a box,"

"Can ya open it?" Williams asked, kneeling next to the object.

"Well, let's have a look," Ortega replied.

He rotated the object in his hands, hoping to find a mechanism or latch or something.

"There isn't a handle or something to open this," Ortega reported. "There is however some sort of combo lock,"

"You just said there wasn't anything to open it," Witkowski cut in.

"Related to a 'handle'," The Spaniard corrected. "Besides, it could be nothing important."

"Are you daft?" The Englishman replied. "Just open it if you can,"

Ortega did as told to. He pressed his left ear next to the lock and began to rotate the dial. A moment later:

'Click'

"Uno," He commented.

He rotated the dial in the opposite direction. "

Come on…where are you?"

'Click'

"Dos,"

"Tell me something Sergeant," Alexeyeva asked. "Where did you learn to pick locks like these?"

"Don't they teach you this in basic training?" Ortega replied.

Alexeyeva shrugged, unsure of how to respond, much to Witkowski's amusement. Then the dial was rotated back in the original direction.

"Surprisingly easy for something this important…if it is, that…is." Ortega added.

'Click'

"Tres."

With a single tug at one of the edges, Ortega was about to praise himself for his 'fine' work, already with a smile and a smug look. Unfortunately, for him, at least, the box's walls collapsed and fell onto the snow.

"Oh nice one mate," The Major commented, rolling his eyes. "Way to break the damn thing,"

"Wait, hold on a sec," Williams added, taking one of the broken walls off the ground.

After a brief examination, the Canadian's head shot up, a stunned look expressed on her face.

"This isn't a box," She said. "This is a piece of some sort of map or picture,"

The Russian signaled the Private to hand over the piece so that she could also examine it.

"She's right," The Colonel added, tilting her head side to side, trying to make sense of what was before her. "Someone give me the other pieces if they can be separated as well."

Ortega nodded and disconnected the other panels.

"I can do this, Colonel," Williams said to her commander. "Art, well…puzzles, is actually a specialty of mine,"

"Is geography also a specialty, Private, you know where Canada is?" Ortega asked, sitting on the ground.

Before the Spaniard could smile, and then possibly regret saying what he said, Witkowski retracted his arm and slapped the back of Ortega's head.

"Ow!"

"Belt up," Witkowski snapped. "Ya don't realize just how brassed off we are with your cheeky attitude mate,"

"No, Major," Alexeyeva added. "Just you,"

"Ah bugger off,"

The Russian was about to throw another comeback when Williams cleared her throat loudly enough so that the others would pay some attention her way.

"Done," She said to the others, handing the unusually large pictograph to the Colonel.

Ortega's mouth dropped in utter surprise. He honestly did not believe that she would place the pieces together and that they would have Jackson look through them instead. The Spaniard shook his head with a defeated smile.

"It wasn't really that hard…we just need to find out what is considered north on this world."

As a response, Witkowski dug into his vest and pulled out a compass.

"Try this," He said. "At least the magnetic field here has got to be better than on Earth."

No one said anything else while Williams searched for North, while in the mean time, Alexeyeva looked at the pictograph once more.

"Strange," The Russian commented out loud.

Witkowski approached his commander and looked, over her shoulder, at the pictograph.

"What is it?" He asked.

"Some of these words resemble some modern Russian, or at least Slavic, text." The Colonel replied.

"Think you can translate the entire thing with the few words?" The Major asked.

"It won't be easy but let's take a look,"

As the Russian began to read, the Stargate behind them activated. Her radio began to crackle, signaling an incoming radio transmission.

"_SG-26, this is Stargate Command, come in,"_ It was General Carter.

Alexeyeva and Witkowski headed towards the MALP, allowing the people back on Earth to be able to see them.

"_Colonel, what's your status?"_ Carter asked, her voice echoing from the team's radios.

The Russian shrugged, pressing against the 'talk' button.

"No unpleasant surprises as of yet, so nothing to worry about." She replied into her radio.

"_That's good to hear, Colonel,"_ Carter commented.

Alexeyeva couldn't help but smile a bit.

"You're not worried about us getting ambushed once more, nyet?" She asked.

"_We're just making sure, Colonel,"_ Carter replied. "_You were lucky the first time, so we'll be on stand-by in case anything goes wrong again,"_

The Russian's smile turned grim.

"We appreciate the help, General, and we'll take it…but I'd prefer we don't waste resources on just _one_ team,"

"_Understood, Colonel,"_ Carter replied.

"_Um, Natasha,"_ Daniel's voice emerged from the radio. "_Did you happen to find anything?"_

"As a matter of fact, we have," The Colonel replied.

Signaling the Major to retrieve the pictograph found by Ortega, Alexeyeva explained to Daniel about what they found.

"_A map?"_ Jackson asked. "_Buried in the iceberg?"_

Witkowski returned with the pictograph in his hands, holding onto it with care.

"Yes, Doctor," The Russian continued. "If you don't mind, however, we would like it if you would as kind as to translate as much as you can."

"_Sure,"_ Daniel replied. "_Go ahead."_

Witkowski tilted the pictograph in a position so that the camera could have a full view.

Silence, aside from the wind, set in as the two waited for a response from Jackson. Witkowski, leaning on the MALP, patiently waited.

"What do you think is taking him?" He asked his commander.

Alexeyeva shrugged.

"This language is dead…this will take time,"

Witkowski scoffed.

"You don't know Doctor Jackson like the rest of us…excluding the Private."

"What do you know about the Doctor then?" The Russian replied, unconvinced.

Witkowski repositioned himself to become more comfortable with where he was.

"I'll tell you for one thing," The Major added. "He isn't an ordinary doctor,"

"You mean like how a linguist, who also happens to be an archeologist as well, goes to other worlds, translating dead or alien languages, fighting aliens, saving the world and god knows what else,"

"That's pretty much it," Witkowski replied.

A smug crept up the Major's lips.

"Aside from the fact he alone figured out how to operate the damn Stargate,"

The Russian nearly lost her footing upon hearing the information.

"Is that right?" She asked.

Witkowski nodded.

"At first it was thought that the symbols had no real meaning, or something, I forget," He paused. "Then Jackson somehow figured out that each symbol represented a constellation,"

"Like an address?"

"Exactly, Colonel, this is how he, General O'Neill and several others ended up on Abydos,"

Alexeyeva raised an eyebrow.

"The Egyptian city?" She asked.

"No, another world…wait…"

Witkowski shook his head.

"There's a city in Egypt called Abydos?"

The Russian nodded.

"Hmm…interesting,"

"General O'Neill used to go to other worlds?" Alexeyeva asked.

The Major nodded.

"Yeah, back when he was a Colonel…in 1994 or 95, I think."

"What a small world..." The Russian commented, nodding. "Or Galaxy,"

"Try Universe next time," The Major replied, smiling.

"_This is actually interesting,"_ Daniel's voice echoed from their radios.

"What you got Doc?" Witkowski asked through his radio.

"_Some of this text translates into 'storage', 'underwater', 'path' and 'key'."_

"Which means what, exactly?" The Russian asked.

"_It's defiantly a map…so I guess it has something to do with finding 'storage' underwater somewhere."_

"Hey guys!" Williams yelled from a distance. "I found north, what now?"

"I don't suppose we could just swim our way to this place, nyet?" Alexeyeva asked, leaning back onto the MALP. No one said anything.

Then…

"Crack out the new ARGOs," Witkowski said, snapping his fingers. "We're going scuba diving,"

* * *

><p>Seven Minutes Later…<p>

Stargate Command

The Colonel and Major exited from the Stargate moments before it shut down. Waiting for them on the base of the ramp was General Carter.

"Colonel, Major," She began. "I hear you found something,"

The two soldiers saluted before answering.

"Yes ma'am," Witkowski replied. "It turns out that there is something of value in the ocean and we were hoping to go look for it,"

The General thought for a moment before asking the Colonel.

"Do you know where this storage is?" She asked.

Alexeyeva shook her head.

"Nyet, General," She replied. "However, both Ortega and Williams are looking for the location as we speak,"

"Yeah," Witkowski commented. "Who knew Ortega was such a mathematician, despite being a medic and a god awful comedian,"

The General nodded. "We'll deploy an ARGO to the planet and two divers."

"No need for divers, General," Witkowski added. "The Colonel and I will go,"

* * *

><p>Fifteen Minutes Later<p>

Sub-Level 25

Alexeyeva examined her dark blue steamer wetsuit in the ladies' locker room, checking for any faults in the material. Once she had finished, she strapped her knife onto her hips and slinged the harpoon gun over her back. With a chuckle, she wondered why she would need the damn thing. The Colonel walked out of the locker room only to find that the Major, already in his own wetsuit, was waiting for her, leaning against the wall.

"About bloody time mate," He commented.

The Russian shook her head, her expression grim.

"Do you always show disrespect to your superior officers, Major?" She asked.

"Only the ones I don't like,"

The Russian led the way back to the elevator.

"You keep saying you don't like me and yet you lack the courtesy to show it," She added, pressing against the down button.

"Touché, Colonel," Witkowski replied.

The elevator doors retracted open and the two stepped inside. Pressing the '28' button on the panel, Alexeyeva sneezed. At that moment, pain spiked inside her facial scars so much that the Russian fell on her knees, covering her face and tears.

"Hey, you alright, Colonel?" The Englishman asked.

The Russian shook her head.

"No…my damn scars make sneezing a living hell." She said.

"Your face got torn up _that_ bad, huh?"

"You didn't take an explosion to the face, Major," The Colonel replied. "Besides, the wounds are still healing,"

"Then why the bloody hell are back in service so soon? Unless…"

The elevator doors opened.

"You lied about your health…didn't you?" The Major added.

"Get me drunk and I just might explain," The Russian mumbled, getting back up on her feet.

She checked her hand and, to her astonishment, found a thin line of blood that didn't come from her palm.

"You can't be fighting, not now," The Major said to the Colonel.

"Whatever." Was the Russian's reply.

Witkowski could only shrug to himself as the Russian exited the elevator.

Reaching the gate room, one of the technicians, Master Sergeant Siler, approached the two with a tablet computer in hand.

"The ARGO is ready for deployment, Ma'am," He said to the Russian. "As well as the scuba gear you requested."

"ARGO?" Alexeyeva asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Amphibious all-terrain 8 by 8 driven rover," Witkowski explained, his voice egotistic. "Perfect for our assignment,"

The Russian rolled her eyes.

"Let's just go,"

Siler nodded and signaled for Harriman to begin the dialing sequence. As the Stargate began to dial, the Russian and the Englishman began to survey their inventory in the back of the ARGO.

* * *

><p>Five Minutes Later:<p>

N7M-321

"Gate's activated." Williams said to the Sergeant.

Ortega nodded, still sitting on a chair he made of snow.

"Sí, sí," He replied, yawning.

Williams returned her view to the active gate, hoping that it would the Colonel returning. She was right. Witkowski drove the ARGO through the gate while Alexeyeva escorted the vehicle. Williams approached the two with a smile.

"Welcome back to Hoth Ma'am…Sir," She said. "What's with the getup though?"

"Did you find the location of the site?" Alexeyeva replied, ignoring the Canadian's question.

"Yes ma'am, I did." Williams replied.

She handed the Russian a piece of paper that had the directions.

Alexeyeva nodded once she understood what was written. For the next few minutes, the Colonel checked her equipment and wetsuit one last time before she gave a thumb up to Ortega and Williams, whom both had decided to stay behind and hold the fort. Witkowski, who two was in gear, placed the key into the ignition of the ARGO amphibious vehicle and signaled to the Russian.

"We best get a move on," He called to her.

"I'll be there," The Russian replied.

She began to make her way towards the ARGO when a hand grabbed her arm. With a turn on her heel, Alexeyeva saw who was grabbing her.

It was Williams.

"When we get back Earth," The Private began. "I was hoping we could talk,"

The Russian nodded.

"Of course," She replied.

Williams, however, shook her head.

"No I mean…well…when we get back to the SGC…I was hoping the Major and Sergeant could join as well."

"Wouldn't you be more comfortable talking to just me until you feel ready to talk to others?"

"OI, COLONEL, ARE YOU COMING OR NOT?" Witkowski yelled.

Williams shrugged, feeling uneasy as blood went into her stomach.

"I guess we could do that…a one on one…" She paused.

The Russian chuckled.

"Or maybe we all get drunk and it'll be easy for you to talk freely while no one remembers."

"COLONEL,"

"But…that's just it," Williams replied to the Russian. "I want someone to remember…to listen to what I have to say about myself."

"And I'll be sure to do the same, perhaps the Spaniard and the Englishman might follow,"

"ARE YOU BLOODY DAFT!"

"I'm coming Major," The Russian yelled back.

She turned back to the Canadian and smiled.

"We'll talk more lately, ok?" She said to her.

Climbing aboard the ARGO, Alexeyeva nodded to Witkowski, whom placed the key back into the ignition. After the engine heated up, the Major pressed on the accelerator and the ARGO drove off towards the ocean. The two held on as the ARGO tipped forward once they passed the edge. Once on the ocean, Witkowski drove the ARGO towards the horizon…and the hunt began…


	20. Celsius Zero Part 3

And Now I present to you...the conclusion of the three part chapter...

Happy reading and reviews are always welcome!

* * *

><p>Chapter 20: Celsius Zero (Part 3)<p>

N7M-321

The engine hummed silently as Witkowski turned his head towards his Russian commanding officer and sighed.

"Here's the most pressing question I've been asking myself ever since I found out you were in charge."

Alexeyeva raised an eyebrow as the Major steered the ARGO four degrees north-west. The ocean made little noise under the amphibious vehicle, aside from the mild splash against the hull.

"I'm listening," She replied.

The Englishman sighed again, unsure of how to inquire about his curiosity.

"You say you are FSB…or were, given the circumstances, before Stargate Command brought you in."

"And your point is?"

"But word goes around that you were Spetsnaz…and yet you constantly say you weren't. No way would the SGC pick you if you didn't do some 'extraordinary' wetwork."

The Russian, out of impulse, began to rub both of her scarred cheeks, maybe looking for more blood leaking out.

"Eh," She groaned, carbon dioxide escaping her mouth in a foggy mist. "I guess I was never honest with you."

"Bloody hell," The Major coughed, crossing his arms. "How much didn't you tell me…or the others?"

"Not too much, fortunately,"

"So you are Spetsnaz?"

The ocean splashed against the metallic casing of the ARGO once more, swinging the two soldiers side to side.

"Was, Major Witkowski, I was," The Russian replied. "Only for one operation,"

"What happened?"

"Nothing you haven't faced before, I'm assuming,"

"Every experience is a new one,"

Alexeyeva looked away, towards the light blue sky, reflected by the seemingly still ocean.

"Bog blagoslovil ikh dushi," She mumbled. 'God Bless their souls'. "Have you watched your men die right before you and there wasn't a damn thing you could do about it?"

The Russian asked the Major.

"You…can say that," Was the man's reply.

"Then we both understand the price of battle…and that not everyone was meant to survive,"

* * *

><p>4 Years Earlier<p>

South Ossetia, Georgian-Russian Border, Earth

_Major Alexeyeva could feel her body pull up as she descended rapidly towards the Earth below. _

"_Remember everyone,"__ Colonel Mikhail __Volkov said to his team, as he fell, passing the Major. __"Fight anyone who resists but do not kill the High Value Target,"_

_Everyone acknowledged at the command and continued their fall. _

"_We're close enough, deploy parachutes!"_ _Lieutenant Colonel Roman Antipov's voice barked into Alexeyeva's headset. _

_The Major pulled her ripcord and the parachute exploded open from her back. The intense jolt pulled the Major up, then back down._

_Looking up, the younger Major found that her chute was intact and her decent had slowed. Upon reaching the treeline, the Major was preparing to do the landing she was training half of her life for. However, before reaching the ground, her chute was entangled onto several branches. Trapped above the ground, the Major struggled to get her harness to loosen so that she could slip through. Before she could, one of her men came out of the bushes. It was Sergeant Ivashov. _

"_Well…" His exposed face gave off a smirk. "Look who decided to…hang around," _

"_This isn't funny, Sergeant!" The Major replied in a risen tone. "For the love of god, help me down,"_

_Others began to show up. _

"_Oh, will you keep your voice down, lady?" Balashov asked. "We'll help you down." _

_He and Warrant Officer Vitsin began to climb the trees as Colonel Volkov entered the scene. _

"_Bosa moy," He coughed. "How did this happen?" His voice sarcastic. _

"_I'm sorry sir," The Major began. "I wasn't really looking where I was going," _

_The Colonel shook his head. Vitsin and Balashov began to cut at the wires that held the Major to the entangled parachute. Once the final wire was cut, the Major fell to the ground. With a forward roll, she was able to land on her back, breathing heavily. Looking up, Warrant Officer Zhukov knelt next to her. _

"_Not your typical hostage situation from your Vympel days, eh Major?" He asked. _

_The Major shook her head before standing up. _

"_No…it's not,"_

_The Colonel rounded up everyone and we gathered in a circle. _

"_Pay attention, Gentlemen…and lady," He began. "Mistletoe was reported to be located at grid 9450728…satellite surveillance showed that it might be a residence, such as an estate, but we can't be too sure." _

_He then pointed to the beacon. _

"_We'll use the beacon to lure out as many of his private forces as we can before we go after the man…in which we will proceed as planned." _

_They group acknowledged and began to check their weapons, ammunition and equipment. Ivashov glanced at the Major as she took off her mask and armed her AK-200. He approached the Major, laughing, before grabbing the rifle out of her hands. "I think this gun is a bit too big for you, Major." He commented. The Major grunted, clearly pissed off from the Sergeant's personal attacks on her. _

"_Just give me my fucking gun back," She spat, snatching her rifle from the Sergeant. Ivashov placed his hands up in defense. _

"_Alright, alright, lady," He replied, still smiling. "If you're so desperate to get yourself killed, be my guest," _

_He then walked away. _

_Volkov assigned Balashov, Glazkov, Alexeyeva, and himself as team one and the others as team two. Glazkov and Antipov activated the beacon and the team began to move out._

_The plan went into motion as the teams advanced through the woods, quickly and quietly._

"_Crap," One of the men coughed, pointing down the hill. "Enemy patrol, get down."_

_Everyone quickly dropped to the ground, weapons at the ready. The patrol slowly walked their way past the team, oblivious to their presence. _

"_We'll have to take them down," Volkov finally stated. _

"_We shouldn't," The Major replied. "We don't have suppressed weapons, not that it would help anyway," _

"_Surprising that we didn't get any for a mission like this," Balashov commented. _

"_Inaccurate and does not truly make a weapon silent," Alexeyeva added._

"_Both of you shut up," Antipov snapped quietly. _

_He then turned his to his commanding officer lying next to him. _

"_Your call, Colonel." _

_Volkov thought for a moment, mostly because the Major, a woman, had a decent point._

_He knew that using unsuppressed weaponry would give them away. But he also knew that the patrol would alert the others anyway so now, he knew, they were practically boxed in. The only way to stay elusive was to allow the patrol to pass…the Major is right. _

"_No…we'll let them pass…for now," He finally replied. _

"_Understood, Colonel," Antipov nodded._

_The five-man patrol passed the team above them, still unaware of their presence. Just before they were about to continue forward, one of the men stopped and looked up at the hill. _

"_Shit," Glazkov sighed. "Think we've been made?" _

"_Shut your pie hole and we won't be," Ivashov commented. _

_The Major couldn't help but giggle that despite being one of the best Special Forces operators…no one could keep quiet. _

_Arrogance…most likely. _

_The man decided to climb up the hill, just for the hell of it. _

"_What the hell…"__ The Major thought. _

"_Hey, Vasili, what are you doing?" One of the patrolmen asked their friend. _

"_I thought I heard something," The man replied. _

_His eyes scanned the hill before him, looking for suspicious activity. Alexeyeva could fell her heart rate increase. _

"_Are you sure?" The patrolman asked. _

_The man's eyes, as Alexeyeva would later swear, came into contact with hers. _

"_We're on a tight schedule, __Aliyev needs everyone back at base for the incoming shipment," _

_The man sighed, shaking his head. _

"_Fine…I'll be there." _

_He turned around, yet he kept his head turned over his shoulder…he knew he saw something._

_The patrol moved on, cautiously of course, and was out of sight. _

"_Alright," Volkov said. "Move." _

_The team got back on their feet and continued to advance in their original path. _

"_Did you hear what he said?" Zhukov asked. "He said something about a shipment." _

"_We have ears too Captain Obvious," Ivashov replied. "Question is: Where is the shipment going to go?" _

"_When we find 'mistletoe', we can ask him." Alexeyeva answered. _

"_Exactly," Volkov commented. "Let's go," _

* * *

><p>Present Day<p>

N7M-321

"So what happened?" Witkowski asked, curious about his commander. "Did you guys manage to get the bastard?"

The Colonel looked at him funny.

"You know…that wanker…'mistletoe' was it?"

Alexeyeva didn't answer.

Too many bad memories, as she remembered.

Then the GPS she set up before they left began to beep, signaling them that they had reached their location. The Russian climbed over to the back, dropped her spear gun, strapped the air tank over her back, and placed the hood over her head, the goggles over her eyes and the spear gun back over the tank.

"So?" Witkowski asked again. "Aren't you going to tell me?"

The Lieutenant Colonel checked her gear.

"Maybe later," She replied.

Witkowski simply shrugged.

"I'll hold you to it," He added before also putting on his equipment.

The two sat at the edge of the ARGO before placing their mouthpieces in.

"Stay close to me," Alexeyeva told the Major.

"And who's the expert in scuba diving?" Witkowski retorted.

"Good Point,"

Then with a single push, both divers fell backwards into the water.

* * *

><p>The water was ice cold; had it not been for their suits, both soldiers would have frozen to death almost instantly.<p>

"_While we're looking for this…cache,"_ Witkowski radioed his commander. "_Let's talk about how we ended up working for the SGC."_

Alexeyeva shook her head.

"_You can go first, Major,"_ She replied.

"_Alright,"_ Witkowski began. "_You remember I was with the 22__nd__ SAS regiment, correct?"_

The Colonel gave a thumb up.

"_Da, then you went on to tell us how much you hate the Russian Federation."_

"_That's not the point,"_ The Englishman continued. "_I was in Afghanistan before the Americans decided to pull me out…and place me here,"_

There was a pause.

The two divers reached a wall of ice, forcing the two to stop.

"_A wall?"_ Alexeyeva asked. "_Another iceberg perhaps,"_

Witkowski shrugged.

"_I'm not sure…it could be,"_ He replied.

Before he could examine further, something caught his eye.

"_Oi,"_ He said, pointing below him.

The Colonel, also looking at what Witkowski saw, swam down to investigate, the Major in tow. What they found was a tunnel and, because there was no light coming in, it was pitch black. The two couldn't help but look in awe at what could lay ahead. The Major looked at the Russian and vise versa.

"_Ladies first,"_ He said to her.

"_And who is the expert at scuba diving?" _

"_You're the one with the spear gun."_

Without saying anything more, Alexeyeva turned on her shoulder mounted flashlight and swam into the tunnel. Keeping the spear gun aimed forward, the Colonel advanced further through the tunnel.

"_This place scares me,"_ She commented.

"_It's just a tunnel,"_ Witkowski replied. "_Besides, I got your back," _

"_What were you going to say about your time in Afghanistan?" _

"_Ah yes,"_ Witkowski added. "_What I did there isn't important…save for the fact that I almost died there…the point is it's that I joined the SGC a year ago…served in SG-2 for most of that time." _

"_Leading them, da?" _

"_No, I was a subordinate to Colonel Griff before he took an arrow to the knee on one of our missions – no…don't poke fun at that crap – so for that one month before you arrived, I was left to lead SG-2. Best fun I've ever had." _

"_Well…now that we're alone,"_ Alexeyeva added. "_What do you think of the other two?"_

Witkowski shrugged, even though the Russian couldn't see.

"_I've known Ortega for a while when General Carter agreed to the U.N's request of allowing foreign personnel to participate in the Stargate Program last year…needless to say, about the U.N, most of the people were military since most science and technological personnel were already working at Atlantis." _

"_Which was what, exactly?" _

"_No one told you?" _

"_Nyet," _

"_The actual city of Atlantis…built by the same guys who built the Stargates." _

"_The Ancients, da?" _

"_Yeah…" _

"_I find it hard to believe that a civilization predating humanity had built a city that was capitalized on in fiction over during the existence of our society." _

"_Believe it…and a whole lot of other wacky shit that you would otherwise only find in Sci-fi books." _

"_Name one." _

"_Time-Travel," _

"_Liar," _

"_Prepare to have your mind blown wide open," _

"_Only when I'm dead," _

"_Cheeky,"_

* * *

><p>Light began to come into view as the two continued to advance. Once they had reached the threshold, the surfaced.<p>

"_Didn't expect to find air in here,"_ Witkowski commented.

Alexeyeva pulled out her mouth piece, scanning the immediate area as she waved her flashlight around.

"Or a cavern at all."

Witkowski also removed his mouth piece.

"Let's go find some solid ground." He added, swimming in one direction. "As for Williams…"

There was hesitation in his voice and the pause made it obvious. After learning more about the Canadian, he was careful to not step on fragile toes.

"I'll be honest; I have met plenty of female E.O.D experts overseas…but not someone like Williams. Hell, I don't know how she was able to compete with others in her state of mind…"

He eventually found a solid platform to stand on.

"I'm not trying to say that she's terrible," The Major continued. "But you have to admit…she gonna be a loose cannon if isn't already,"

"Somehow she acts calm, if not bravely, under pressure." The Russian replied.

"Exactly..."

"But?"

"Of all the things I can come up with that I have a problem with her…it won't be because of her gender, I have respect for a woman who diffuses bombs for a living…her…fragile psyche however…"

"Will most likely be the downfall of her,"

"And given the amount of time you spend with her…I worry that if she does falter…you'll somehow follow suit."

"I didn't think you'd care about me that much, Major." Alexeyeva replied, climbing up with the Englishman.

Witkowski scoffed, and then crossed his arms.

"Yeah well…a group of elite soldiers will end up being a bunch of crappy ones if their leader isn't at her 110 percent ma'am…you'd do well to remember that,"

"Words to live by,"

The two looked around the cavern and began to explore…what little there was.

"Tell me more about you and Ortega," Alexeyeva inquired further.

"He's been in the SGC longer than I,"

A sigh.

"So it was a no-brainer for me to look up to him for guidance."

Witkowski looked at the walls before walking once more.

"It's good to know that Williams and Ortega were right on with the location…but no cache," He commented.

"Focus, Major," The Russian replied.

"Oh, right sorry," Witkowski continued. "Given his terrible humor, he is a good medic when I see one, not to mention a good shot with heavy weapons…I just wish he'd stop making an arse of himself and stop it with the jokes."

There was a laugh among them.

"I didn't think you'd be intolerant, given what you must have gone through." The Russian said.

"After all the places I've been," Witkowski replied. "It's a miracle that I'm here…on another planet with a Russian."

"Don't forget a Canadian and a Spaniard." Alexeyeva added.

Witkowski chuckled.

"Those guys too,"

* * *

><p>"Well…this is rather interesting." Witkowski commented.<p>

The cavern, as the two later realized, had been deserted. Sign of civilization were present however: Tents, huts, fire pits and human remains. The Russian knelt down next to one of the skeletons and moved the skull left to right.

"You're right, Major," She replied. "This _is_ interesting,"

Witkowski approached the Colonel and the remains.

"Bloody hell…" He coughed.

Alexeyeva retracted her hand from the skull and rested it on her knee.

"Doctor Jackson is going to have a – as you say – field day with all this."

"So will the Lucian Alliance if they get a hold of this area."

The Russian shook her head.

"I doubt a group of space mobsters would be interested in a bunch of trinkets and corpses."

Witkowski shrugged.

"I dunno…I've seen a lot of crazy stuff on the galactic market every now and again when I still was with SG-2,"

"Then trinkets," Alexeyeva replied, standing back up. "But nothing more."

"The cache," The Major added.

"No…it can't be here…this doesn't seem the place." The Colonel replied, shaking her head.

"It could be inside one of these buildings…maybe these guys used to worship it."

"I'm more interested in how they died."

"Yeah…" Witkowski looked away, viewing the desolate area. "So much for getting answers out of these poor bastards."

* * *

><p>"Dead population…primitive setting…no sign of our objective…" Witkowski commented as he examined several objects.<p>

The Major shook his head again as he examined the inside of a hut.

"It practically has 'dead end' written all over it." He remarked.

Alexeyeva walked down the land, looking upward. The icy ceiling made her wonder.

"This place is built like a dome," She observed.

"So?" Witkowski asked. "A lot of worlds did that, one planet did it to protect it self from the snow another from poison gas…though the latter was shrinking."

"But this is built underwater…those were on the surface, I'm guessing."

"I'll admit, it's something to sleep on,"

"Yeah, right,"

The two continued to search through the dead 'village', as the two started to call it, hoping to find more clues as to where this 'cache' was.

Witkowski then stumbled upon something.

"Hey, check this out," He called to his commander.

He set his flashlight on the object and examined it. Alexeyeva rushed towards the Major and his discovery.

"What have you found?" She asked.

Witkowski pointed his flashlight on the Colonel's face, who had placed her arm over her eyes to protect them from the light.

"A Gou'ald Sarcophagus," Witkowski reported. "In all it's glory,"

* * *

><p>Alexeyeva rested her arms on the device.<p>

"Gou'ald?" She asked.

"The parasitic beings that take over humans and pretend to be gods and be worshiped," The Major tried to explain.

"Much like dictatorship…I'm aware of who these aliens are." The Russian replied. "But why are the Gou'ald here?"

"Maybe it's not them directly…the last world, P3E-610, was most likely the first world our…Salvics…came from and it may have been under Gou'ald occupation…hence the sarcophagus."

"So a Gou'ald alien could be in here, right before us?"

"That's a possibility…" Witkowski replied, personifying his hands. "'You think you can escape…well go on ahead but take our proxy leader with you'."

Alexeyeva laughed a bit, finding this sort of humor rather soothing.

"I don't suppose we could open it," She began. "And see whose inside."

"You sure you want to do that?" Witkowski asked. "I'm not sure we can put the guy back inside,"

"Bullets can,"

"Good point," Witkowski proceeded to attempt the retraction of the cover, nothing worked.

"Batteries must be dead or something…" He reported.

The Russian looked around the sarcophagus.

"Maybe we can bring it back with us."

Witkowski scoffed.

"Are you crazy?" He asked. "We're looking at 3 meters of solid gold; do you have any idea how heavy that is?"

"Anything in water is weightless," Alexeyeva replied.

Witkowski face palmed.

"Are you daft?" He asked again. "Gold does not float in water."

The Russian's face suddenly became surprised at the realization…how could she not know this.

"Chyort," She breathed. "You're correct,"

Then her face lit up.

"But there must be air inside, nyet?"

Now it Witkowski's turn to be surprised. He had forgotten about that part.

"Ah blimey…now how the hell did I miss that?"

"No matter, let's go, we're finished here,"

The Major and the Colonel got behind the sarcophagus and began to push it towards the pool they arose from. Strangely enough, they were able to push it with minimal complications and Witkowski commented as such.

"Maybe this one is not made of gold but looks like it?" Alexeyeva speculated as they reached the pool.

"No way…this is gold no doubt about it." Witkowski replied.

"Then the ARGO won't be able to carry it."

"What do you suggest then?"

"We leave the ARGO behind and swim all the way back," Alexeyeva replied. "If I remember correctly it will only take about ten to fifteen minutes to get back."

Witkowski now seemed as if he had been slapped in the face by someone important.

"Have you gone mad woman?" He asked. "Do you know how much those ARGO babies cost?"

He then pointed to the Sarcophagus.

"Hell, I'm not sure you understand how difficult it might be to move one of these things."

"Might?"

"It's never been done by pushing it in water."

"Then we'll be the first."

* * *

><p>Witkowski and Alexeyeva shoved the alien stasis pod into the water and dove after it. The two replaced on their mouthpieces and goggles, and began to move the sarcophagus through the submerged tunnel.<p>

"_Well, I gotta hand it to you, Colonel,"_ Witkowski radioed as he pulled at the sarcophagus in the water. "_You were right about the thing being easy to move…though I still don't know how we're doing it."_

"_Let's just hope we'll make it back."_ Alexeyeva replied.

"_You and me both."_

After swimming through the dark tunnel back to the ocean, the two reached the surface and began to head back. Witkowski, however, decided to swim back to the ARGO instead.

"_What are you doing?"_ The Russian asked.

Witkowski looked back as he climbed back onto the ARGO.

"_What does it look like I'm doing?"_ He replied. "_I'm going to guide you back to the gate."_

Alexeyeva shook her head.

"_Fair enough,"_ She replied.

Just before Witkowski was about to turn the engine back on, he noticed something that he found useful.

"Here," He said to the Russian. "Use this."

He threw a hook with a rope into the water and the Colonel grabbed it.

"Good thinking," She commented.

After hooking up the sarcophagus behind the ARGO, Alexeyeva climbed back onboard and the Major started the engine.

The ride back was slower than usual, and the alien stasis pod towing behind them wasn't the only problem.

"Where did all this ice come from?" The Russian asked the British solider as she looked on.

On the ocean before them, floated several small pieces of snow and ice. Witkowski shrugged.

"Don't know," He replied. "But it won't make driving this thing any easier."

Witkowski attempted to steer clear of the ice debris, only to get the ARGO scratched up.

"Wanker…" The driver coughed.

As the ARGO began to approach the iceberg that carried both the Stargate and the rest of her team, Alexeyeva ordered Witkowski to stop.

"What…what's going on?" He asked.

Alexeyeva looked ahead at the iceberg...and then her hand began to shake as fog began to form.

"Something isn't right," She stated.

Neither of the two could see more than several meters. Not to mention that the snowing began to intensify.

The Russian turned to the Major.

"Stay here," She told him.

At that moment, Witkowski knew what his commander was going to do.

"You can't go on your own…if someone is there…" He paused.

The Russian got on her feet and placed her mouthpiece and goggles on. Before she could dive, however, Witkowski stopped her.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" He asked.

Alexeyeva smiled and placed her hand on his shoulder.

"Why do you worry?" She asked with an assuring smile. "You think I'm Spetsnaz,"

"Are you?"

Witkowski's fear could be seen clearly in his eyes and Alexeyeva could only smile to hide hers.

With a single jump, Alexeyeva went feet first into the ocean, and headed towards the iceberg.

* * *

><p>The cold water didn't distract the Colonel's thoughts about what could be happening at the Stargate…and the other members of SG-26. Staying just beneath the surface of the ocean, Alexeyeva quietly swam through the water, hoping to not be spotted if there was an enemy. Realizing that she arrived at her destination, the Russian surfaced and began to climb onto the iceberg. As she reached to get a stable grip, a foot stepped on her arm. Snapping her head up, the Colonel, once more, came face to face with the Lucian Alliance.<p>

"Nice of you to join us," The man said to her, keeping his foot on her arm as his crazed smile reflected onto the Russian.

Alexeyeva blinked, her heart beating faster and faster with each second passing, then looked past the enemy and found Ortega and Williams standing, their hands behind their backs – tied no doubt – and another Alliance solider keeping his weapon trained at them. Ortega noticed the Russian's presence and smiled at her.

"Sorry for the inconvenience, Senora,"

Then the solider guarding them shoved the butt end of his weapon into the Spaniard's stomach.

Ortega, in so much pain, leaned forward as he gasped for air.

"Keep your mouth shut, Tau'ri scum," The guard spat at him.

Ortega brought his head up as his labored breathing continued.

"Vete al Diablo!" He muttered. 'Go to hell.'

The guard, clearly clueless of the Spanish tounge, brought his weapon up then back down on Ortega's back, knocking him to the ground.

"I said," The guard replied. "Shut up."

Williams' face was grim, as if upset about some other 'failure' she has done. She kept her head down and looked away as if not to draw attention.

"Get up," The guard said to the Spaniard.

Ortega's head felt strangely cold and painful. He must have cut himself when his head hit the ground.

How much he hated the arctic setting.

Ortega struggled to get back onto his feet, given his tied hands and all.

The guard laughed at this.

"Hah, not as good as SG-1 I see," He commented, a smirk on his lips. "Did they get too old or something…shame Earth gave us a bunch of washouts instead."

Ortega wanted to beat the living crap out the guy…but, given the fact he was beaten and bounded, that was not possible.

The guard was going to beat Ortega again. But before he could even raise his weapon again, Williams struck. Without a single word, or sound for that matter, Williams threw herself at the guard, knocking them both down.

Using this as a distraction, Alexeyeva shot up her free hand and grabbed the Alliance holding her and yanked him into the ocean. Restraining the man underwater, she pulled out her knife and shoved it into his throat, slicing his neck from one side to the other. The once blue water had now become red as it was polluted with the blood of the enemy.

Alexeyeva shoved the body downward and it disappeared into the depths of darkness and hoisted herself up and over. As she did, however, the Russian noticed that the guard Williams bravely tried to stop had shoved the young Canadian off his body and quickly got up on his feet. Arming his weapon, the man pointed it at her.

"You're gonna pay for that you little bitch!" He yelled.

Williams could only close her eyes now, reminiscing a repeat from the previous mission.

All then somehow became slow.

The Lieutenant Colonel, without hesitation, pulled out her Makarov pistol and aimed it at the man. A split second was all it took for the Russian to ready, aim and fire her weapon.

She didn't miss either.

The man fell onto his knees, his gun still in hand, then onto his back and that was where another life seemed to have ended.

Without another moment to waste, the Russian shoved herself upward and onto the iceberg, and rushed to her now liberated teammates.

"Witkowski," She yelled into the radio as she ran. "Get over here now!"

"_Roger, on the way!"_ Witkowski's voice was frantic.

The Russian stumbled as she got closer to the two, where Ortega was already up and standing over Williams. Alexeyeva tripped and fell when she next to the two, outright scared that one of her own might have been hurt.

Her fears were not justified.

"Ma'am?" Williams asked, as she faced the sky above, her tone of voice gave the expression of weariness.

"I'm here, Private Williams," The Russian assured the Canadian, gripping her hand behind the young woman's head. "Are you hurt?"

Williams shook her head.

"I'm fine…" She mumbled. "A little tired."

Alexeyeva smiled as the ARGO came into view.

"What…the…sod!" Witkowski yelled as he stepped off the amphibious vehicle. "What the hell happened here?"

"No time to explain," Alexeyeva said as she pulled out her knife and cut Ortega's and Willaims' restraints off.

"Ortega, help the Major with the Sarcophagus and get it to the Stargate."

The Spaniard was surprised.

"Wait…you guys found a Gou'ald stasis device?" He asked.

"Yes," The Colonel replied, irritated with the anxiety of the situation. "Now go!"

Ortega nodded and ran to Witkowski to help him.

"Willaims," Alexeyeva continued. "Activate the Stargate, tell Stargate Command of the situation."

"Understood Ma'am," Willaims replied before she ran to the gate.

Ortega struggled to help Witkowski pull up the Sarcophagus from the water.

"Cristo!" Ortega moaned. "This thing is heavy!"

"Come on, Come on!" Witkowski yelled. "The sooner we get this thing back to the SGC, the sooner we can all get some rest."

The two pull the device onto the iceberg as the snowing began to turn into a blizzard. Alexeyeva ran to the two and helped them carry the device towards the gate.

"Wait?" Ortega asked, slowing down. "Why the hell are we in a rush?"

"Getting out of here is a priority," The Russian answered. "So pick up the pace!" Willaims approached the three.

"The gate's dialed and the SGC knows we're coming." She told the others.

Then all of a sudden, a single death glider flew overhead.

"Shit!" The Canadian cursed.

"Let's go!" The Russian yelled as the sound of the Death Glider coming around was heard. "Priyot!" 'Forward.'

"Ah so much for the ARGO," Witkowski commented, looking behind. "We were so close in bringing it home."

"It can be replaced Major!" Alexeyeva replied as the four began to run as they carried the Sarcophagus towards the active gate, its portal visible in the storm.

"Death Glider is coming in for another pass!" Ortega yelled in the run. "I'm pretty sure he isn't going to drop Christmas presents the way he's coming in at us."

"Shut up and run!" Witkowski replied.

The heaviness of the Sarcophagus didn't help the four in the realization that they all might be killed at that moment.

The Glider opened fire.

The first blast's heat could be felt against the Russian's cold face, an irritation at the sudden change of feeling. The closer the team approached the gate, the farther it seemed to be…that is until they reached it. Alexeyeva felt as if her body melted once she passed the event horizon. A natural feeling of someone entering the Stargate.

* * *

><p>The wormhole and its roller coaster sensation had lost its grip on the Russian as she didn't feel dizzy or nauseas on the other side, even with the alarms blaring in her ears.<p>

"Close the damn iris!" Witkowski yelled to Harriman, signaling as well.

Just before the titanium barrier could be closed, a single wounded Lucian Alliance solider emerged from the portal, a weapon in hand.

This was quite possibly the first time a man from that faction has stepped foot on that base.

"Behind you!" Willaims yelled, pointing.

Ortega and Alexeyeva turned around as the man raised his weapon and trained it at the Russian.

The guards protecting the gate room quickly raised their weapons, ready to take the shot, but would be unable to fire with the team in the line of sight.

Thankfully, Alexeyeva hadn't bothered to holster her weapon and so she raised hers as well.

Yet the man shot first and the woman hesitated.

The impact of the bullet into her chest threw her off her feet, back into the railing and then onto the ramp itself. Her pistol escaping her hand and sliding across the ramp and onto the floor. She made no sound, before or after.

Ortega, thinking fast, rushed at the man and bashed his head with the butt end of his M27 that he thoughtfully picked up on the way back.

"Not so fun when the guy isn't tied up, is it?" The Spaniard commented to the knocked out enemy. "Alliance scumbag,"

"Colonel!" Willaims yelled as she rushed to the Russian's side.

One of the blast doors opened and a group of medics rushed to the scene. They quickly made their way up the ramp and made the Canadian stay back. As one of the medics tried to check the Russian's pulse, she suddenly gasped for air.

"She's alive," The medic announced.

Williams looked away, breathing heavily, relieved that her commander was alright.

"That vest just saved your ass," The medic added to the Russian with a chuckle.

The Colonel coughed uncontrollably, yet she managed to let out a smile.

"Spaseeba," She coughed again.

Another blast door opened and the members of SG-1 and the General herself rushed into the room as well as the security placed their weapons down.

"My god," General Carter said, approaching the Russian and the medics helping her. "Are you alright?"

Alexeyeva stood up with the help of the medics.

Her head was bleeding slightly.

"I think I'll manage." She said. "Though I feel a little strange."

Carter then noticed a drip of blood falling from the Russian's vest and it wasn't from her head.

Taking notice of the General's dropped mouth and the position of her eyes, Alexeyeva looked down at her chest and proceeded to remove her vest. Underneath the vest was the drysuit she wore.

A bloody hole was visible.

As it turned out, the bullet did in fact penetrate the vest and punctured the center her chest.

Blood was oozing out at this point.

Alexeyeva, confused though not upset, turned her head to the medic behind her.

Everyone began to surround the Colonel.

"I'll be honest with you…doctor," She spoke quietly to the medic.

Carter approached closer to the Russian. Her eyes were now wide and her jaw was dropped.

"So much for the vest saving my life."

Then Alexeyeva collapsed onto the ramp.


	21. A Hole in the Heart

Chapter 21: A Hole in the Heart

* * *

><p>Sub-Level 21, Stargate Command<p>

3:21 P.M

Doctor Lam approached the gurney that carried the wounded Russian towards the infirmary.

"What her condition," The Doctor asked the medics.

"A single bullet wound to the chest," One of them replied.

Lam examined the chest wound and ordered a preparation for surgery. They were going to dig out the bullet.

Also in a gurney, behind the Russian, was the wounded Alliance solider that shot Alexeyeva. Several SFs were escorting the rear gurney, their rifles ready. Once the solider was placed into care, he was to be handcuffed onto the bed and kept there until he was ready to be placed in the brig several floors above. Unlike the Russian, the Alliance solider was conscious though he didn't make a sound, only staring at the guards watching back at him. Given his injuries, courtesy of one Russian Lieutenant Colonel, the solider wasn't going to need the same surgery as the one who injured him. The bullet wound that was inflicted upon him was a through and through. It would take less than an hour to patch him up before shipping him off to the slammer.

* * *

><p>Sub-Level 20, Stargate Command<p>

Noa angrily charged into the shower room.

Stepping into the shower, she hadn't bothered to undress and just allowed the water to splash onto her. Her hair was now drenched not with sweat but with plain water and yet her tears remained. Despite not appearing as such, Noa was a rather resourceful woman and used the sound of the shower running to suppress the sounds of sobbing.

Her sobbing.

She had always thought about dying, being alone, even sacrificing herself for others. She knew this kind of thinking would get her hurt and it did. But to watch someone else get harmed because of her…she never predicted it even with all the thinking she had done over the years. At the time, all she do could was just sit there, back to the wall, hands covering her tear ridden eyes…and pray that she didn't end up killing her friend, her commander. A sound of a door opening then closing was closely followed by footsteps.

"Private Williams?" The voice belonged to Samantha Carter. "Are you there?"

"Ye…yes ma'am," Noa replied, wiping the tears from her eyes.

"Want to talk about what happened?" Sam asked.

Noa didn't reply.

Sam went up to the shower Noa sat in and shut off the water flow. After doing so, she knelt down next to the Canadian.

"What happened to the Colonel wasn't your fault." She spoke quietly.

Noa brought her legs together and buried her head in her knees.

"Maybe," Her voice muffled.

Sam backed away and sat on the bench in-between the rows of lockers.

"Alexeyeva is being prepped for surgery," She added. "The bullet didn't go in as deep as it could have so Doctor Lam is confident in the procedure,"

"Will she live?" Noa asked, flinching.

"It's too early to say." Was Sam's reply.

Neither of them said anything more.

The dripping of the water leaking through the faucets were the only sounds made for what seemed like forever.

"Witkowski and Ortega are currently giving a debrief of what happened," Carter finally spoke before standing. "I'll give you as much as you need to sort yourself out…"

She began to walk out before looking back.

"I'll let you know when surgery is complete, alright?"

Noa said nothing as Carter walked out the door, making the same sounds as she did walking in.

* * *

><p>Sub-Level 28, Stargate Command<p>

Milo Witkowski and Alexander Ortega were both sitting on the wall, leaning on two sides of a corner next to the General's office.

After filing their reports on what happened on N7M-321, neither man could do anything else except wait for their commander to get better, assuming she would. Milo kept his right knee bent and his right arm resting. Alexander sat in a pretzel position, keeping his head tilted upward, resting on the concrete wall behind him.

"How did this happen?" Milo finally blurted out.

Alex simply shrugged.

"I dunno amigo," He replied. "It's like shit…it happens,"

Milo laughed a bit.

Then, after shaking his head, the Major's laughter died off. He turned his head around the corner to face his friend.

"Well…that might be the best joke you've came up with in a long…_long_…time mate."

Alex half-smiled.

"Gracias, I guess," He replied.

"Do you only have good humor when people are dead or dying?" Milo asked.

"Humor is the best medicine," Alex replied again. "Is it not?"

"Maybe,"

"But all jokes aside…I don't know how someone manages to survive getting shot…follows the shooter half-way across the galaxy, in a split second mind you, and shoot her back."

"The way you commented after you tore him a new one…was he the same guy who butted you with his weapon?"

"Sí señor,"

"Must be rough,"

"Sorta,"

Milo nodded before returning his head to its original position.

"I assume he's in lock-up?" He asked.

"Yep,"

"Good, at least that bastard won't be a bother,"

"Yeah,"

Alex stood up and stretched out.

"So," He began. "What are we gonna do now?"

"Wait, that's what." Milo replied.

* * *

><p>Sub-Level 18, Stargate Command<p>

Daniel Jackson sipped into his coffee once more as he continued to examine the pictures taken of the device SG-26 retrieved from N7M-321.

He couldn't help feel terrible that while someone could very well be dying three floors below him, he's looking at some artifact. Of course it wasn't _just_ some artifact; it was a Gou'ald sarcophagus that may hold a key to the entire puzzle involving Slavic mythology and weapons that could upset the power of the galaxy. Whoever was inside the sarcophagus…they just might be able to help them find the ZPM cache…if they were friendly. If they were, as Daniel saw it, the information they could learn might be worth the price they paid. He couldn't help but shake his head as this was something he never thought of before.

"Have you discovered anything interesting, Daniel Jackson?" It was Teal'c.

Daniel shook his head.

"It's not easy," He replied. "Knowing that someone might die today…and for what…this?"

Teal'c bowed his head in acknowledgement.

"I mean come on!" Daniel continued. "That should have been us on that planet, looking for this thing and…"

He sighed and sipped his coffee again, more recklessly this time.

"I don't know what to tell you Teal'c…part of me thinks it's worth it if we find something of value–"

"Is that what you believe, Daniel Jackson?"

Teal'c replied.

Daniel immediately shook his head.

"I don't think its right of me to say that, no." He responded. "I'm just saying…it's hard to concentrate."

"Perhaps you should rest then, Daniel Jackson." Was Teal'c reply.

Daniel didn't say anything.

He just simply sipped his coffee once more, looking at the pictures as the former first prime of Apophis walked away. Teal'c already knew the archeologist's answer. Taking another look at the writing from the sarcophagus, Daniel began to notice something. He got up and left his office, on a look for Sam.

* * *

><p>Sub-Level 20, Stargate Command<p>

Noa buttoned up her standard green SGC uniform jacket and threw her drenched clothing into the laundry basket. Before closing her locker, the Canadian took a long glance at herself on the mirror magnetized onto the back of the locker's door. Noa couldn't help but begin to think that maybe she shouldn't have accepted the position in Stargate Command. To end up seeing friends getting hurt and yet herself comes home unscathed…Williams no longer thought that being a galactic hero was all that it's cracked up to be. She shook her head, clearing it of any more distracting thinking, and closed the locker door. Then she left. Arriving at the elevator, Noa pressed the down button. Pulling her right sleeve, she checked her watch and found that it was 3:40, just as the elevator doors opened. Still looking at her watch as she walked in, Noa didn't realize where she was going.

"Oomph!" She grunted as she bumped into someone.

Looking up, in fear, she found that she walked into Colonel Mitchell.

"Easy there, Williams." He replied, smiling.

He was wearing a white tank top that read 'Air Force', in dark blue letters, and sweatpants and holding a basketball.

"Sorry, sir," Noa replied. "I should have been looking at where I was going,"

She sighed before pressing the '21' button.

"I see you had a good work out, sir." She commented.

Mitchell chuckled.

"I was actually going to the gym,"

Noa was now embarrassed.

"Sorry sir," She replied, covering her forehead with her hand. "I didn't realize."

"Don't be,"

Mitchell then began to play with the ball in his hands.

"My team and I are going to play some basketball,"

He then turned to the Canadian.

"Want to join us?"

Now it seemed that Noa was about to burst into tears.

Angrily, she faced Mitchell, bitterness in her eyes.

"How can you be so calm while someone is dying right underneath us?" Her voice was borderline yelling. "Do you have any idea how it feels to be so close to loosing someone?"

Mitchell's smile turned grim as he shook his head.

Leaning on the side of the elevator, holding onto the basketball, he sighed.

"Let me tell you something, Private," He replied. "Do you know what aneurysm is?"

Noa shook her head.

Mitchell scoffed, mumbling something.

"I had a friend, Bryce Ferguson." He continued. "We were cadets who made a promise to one another that we would get into NASA together. At some point in my life I got cocky and almost gotten myself killed."

The Colonel looked away.

"Then, being the friend everyone needs, he saved me."

A sigh.

"But he got shrapnel lodged into an inter-cranial artery in his head…he had four years to live."

Noa began to regret lashing out at Mitchell the way she did. She had no idea the kind of past the Colonel had.

"We both could have been F-302 pilots but because of his injury…I was the only one who made the cut."

Another moment of silence briefly fell upon the two.

"I went on to fight over Antarctica and become the commanding officer of SG-1, learning about what the galaxy had it in for us and fighting bad guys and saving the world while he just laid there on a hospital bed. If it hadn't been for General Landry, the previous CO of Stargate Command, Bryce never would have been able to experience what I had."

Now Willaims became somewhat confused and Mitchell took notice.

"We implanted some of my memories into his…probably the best thing he had."

A single tear went down Mitchell's cheek.

"He died six years ago…never got over it."

He smiled to himself, as he hoped for comfort.

"Sometimes I still think it was my fault…but what can I do, right?"

Noa turned away, ashamed of herself for being naïve.

"I didn't know, sir, and I'm sorry for your loss and how I reacted to your invite…"

She paused.

"I understand what you must be going through too Private Williams," Mitchell added. "And like you, I hope to god the Ruski is gonna pull through."

The two still had their heads away from one another.

"Still want to join me?" Mitchell finally asked again.

Noa then turned back to the Colonel, who was still turned away.

"Yeah, I'll play some B-ball," She finally added, half-smiling. "But I'll need to file a report on what happened off-world…but…it can wait,"

Then the elevator doors opened but no one left.

The doors closed again.

* * *

><p>1 Hour Later…<p>

Sub-Level 21, Stargate Command

Milo entered the observation deck above the surgery room, hoping to watch his commanding officer, the one he ridiculed so much, and hopefully make some amends. Upon reaching the actual deck, he found the alien, Teal'c, sitting there. The man turned his head to see the Major walk in and nodded.

"Hello Major Witkowski,"

"What up, Teach." Milo replied, waving his right hand up in acknowledgement.

"Are you here to see Colonel Alexeyeva's recovery?" Teal'c asked, returning his view to the surgery.

"Yeah,"

Milo then sat down next to him.

The two major reasons why Milo refers to Teal'c as Teach sometimes is that one, it's easier for Milo to call Teal'c Teach, and that he didn't want to steal General O'Neill's nickname for Teal'c: T, and the second was that Teal'c taught some useful hand-to-hand combat used by the Jaffa. Needless to say, Milo loved it, and had later on looked up to former Jaffa solider as a teacher.

"If you don't mind my asking," The Major added. "Why are you here?"

"For the same reason as you," Teal'c replied.

Milo chuckled, uneasily of course.

"Yeah, I can verify that," He commented.

"Indeed,"

The two said nothing more.

The Englishman leaned back into his chair and placed his hands behind his head, taking a deep breath before exhaling for an extended period of time. Teal'c only raised an eyebrow at this. Milo then rolled his eyes towards Teal'c but said nothing either. The elephant in the room was rather obvious, but neither of them wanted to discuss it.

But they had to.

"How is Private Williams?" Teal'c asked, breaking the ice.

Milo shrugged, not keeping his eyes off the operating table.

"To be honest Teach," He replied. "I haven't seen her since we got back…but it was quite blatant that she was bloody mad."

Teal'c nodded.

Milo continued onto another subject.

"You know how many times I've insulted that woman on the table?" He asked, pointing his finger at the glass.

Teal'c kept his silence.

"Too many." The Major shook his head. "And to find her here…now I wish that there were some things I could take back, you know."

Teal'c nodded.

The two said nothing more and continued to watch the surgery's progress.

* * *

><p>Sub-Level 16, Stargate Command<p>

Ortega clenched his fists when he entered the brig, after the SFs reluctantly allowed him through.

The lighting made the entire cell clear for those on both sides to see the other. What the Sergeant found was the Alliance solider that nearly killed his commander. After his wounds were attended to, the solider was thrown into the cell until further interrogation. The solider kept his back to the cell wall, sleeping, no doubt. Ortega nudged the man's back with his foot and told him to wake up. The Alliance solider stood up and faced the Spaniard.

Neither of the two said a word, only stared at one another.

"How is she?" The man finally asked.

The Spaniard leaned back, crossing his arms, his look grim.

He gave no answer.

"Well?" The Alliance solider asked again, this time, more or less, sincere.

Ortega still hadn't replied.

The solider leaned onto the metal bars and sighed, lowering his head down.

It wasn't until then did Ortega realize that the man couldn't have been more than in his late twenties, early thirties at most. The very thought of the man being no older than the Spaniard himself was provocative.

Then it was his turn to ask.

"What's your name amigo?"

"Calross," The solider replied.

"What were you doing on that planet we were on?"

"Looking for the same thing as you,"

"Where did you hear of this?"

The man shrugged.

"Word gets around,"

Ortega wasn't convinced.

Why was he interrogating the guy anyway? He asked himself this repeatedly as the man behind the bars continued.

"You know how big you Tau'ri are…we just gotta…you know…keep the balance."

At that moment, that impulse, Ortega shoved his foot onto the metal bars.

"This has got nothing to do with Earth!" He retorted. "It's about keeping the peace in the galaxy."

Calross could only laugh.

"That's a cheesy way of putting it," The man replied.

"A hell of a lot better than watching you bastards try and ruin it for others and for what, exactly?"

There was a pause on the Spaniard's part.

"Money? Power? Is any of that worth the suffering everyone else, including our own, has to go through?" He continued.

"What's your point?"

Ortega stopped again and took a deep breath.

"I guess I don't have one," He replied more quietly. "It's not like it's going to make a difference…with it falling on deaf ears and all."

"I don't do it for the money or power," Calross replied. "I only did it so I could have an excuse to explore the galaxy."

Ortega's mouth then dropped.

"What…the…hell!" He yelled. "An _excuse_?"

Calross crossed his arms and frowned. Both men knew what was no being discussed.

"That woman shot me…it's only fair that she got what was coming to her."

Ortega then reached to grab the collar of the soldier's shirt before pulling him into the metal bars.

The solider grunted on impacted.

"If she lives," Ortega began, tightly gripping the man's collar. "I'm gonna make damn sure she beats your sorry ass."

The solider grunted again, his head pressured against the cold, dead metal bars.

"I'm…" He tried to speak. "Looking forward to it,"

Ortega scoffed.

"Ya won't be saying that when she does," He commented. "And she will…"

With no more words to speak, the Sergeant backed away before turning around and walking away, feeling better.

A smirk on his face.


	22. Rude Awakening

Chapter 22: Rude Awakening

* * *

><p>Gym Room, Stargate Command<p>

3:50 P.M

Noa caught the ball when Mitchell passed it to her.

Slipping her way past one member of SG-3 and two more from SG-12, the Canadian took one bounce and threw the ball at the basket. The ball hit the rim and was deflected away.

"Crap!" Noa mumbled.

"Easy there, Williams," Mitchell replied. "You'll get it next time."

Noa nodded.

"Yeah, I better," Was her reply.

Staff Sergeant Redding, who Noa had not seen since the end of basic training, now on the opposing team, tossed the ball to the Canadian. Then he began to block the Canadian's view of both the basket and her teammates.

"Watcha gonna do buddy girl?" Redding asked teasingly.

Noa dribbled the ball, not taking her eyes of the Staff Sergeant. She smirked.

"I'm not your buddy, guy." She replied.

Using the corners of her eyes, Noa noticed that Mitchell was undefended and she quickly passed the ball his direction. Mitchell caught it and threw the ball at the basket.

A swoosh.

Sergeant Marlowe, who Noa also hadn't seen since training, and also on her team, cheered.

"Hell yeah Colonel!" His right arm fist pumping the air.

Mitchell grinned and shrugged.

"If it weren't for Willaims," He commented. "I wouldn't have made that shot."

"Thank you sir," The Canadian replied.

"No, thank _you_!"

"Alright, settle down," Colonel Reynolds began, dribbling the ball. "It's a tie, 3-3, next shot wins, alright?"

"Ah come on, Colonel," Mitchell replied with a chuckle. "So soon?"

Reynolds smiled, tossing the ball to Mitchell.

"Alright then, let's make it interesting," He replied. "Only Private Williams or Major Satterfield can score the next shot, no one else's will count."

Mitchell nodded.

"Fair enough," He replied.

Both the Private and the Major got into position, ready to grab the ball once it was airborne. Reynolds then tossed the ball upwards. Once opportunity knocked, Noa jumped up into the air and grabbed the ball before the Major could react.

"Holy crap!" Satterfield commented.

"Damn girl," Redding added, laughing. "I don't care how much you suck at shooting hoops…but damn it to hell you can jump."

"Thanks guy,"

The Staff Sergeant tried to get the ball away from the Canadian.

"I'm not your guy, friend!"

Noa chuckled as she fluently slipped passed the opposing team and with the help of Marlowe, who was given the ball long enough for Noa to get close to take a close shot.

The ball went in.

With a smile, Noa placed one hand on her hip and pointed the thumb on the other at her chest.

"My name is Private Noa Williams of the Canadian Armed Forces and this is my favorite basketball court in Stargate Command!"

"Hells yeah!" Marlowe commented, high-fiveing the Canadian. "You show em' girl!"

Satterfield also smiled, approaching Williams to shake her hand.

"Good game," The Major said to the Private.

"Absolutely," Williams replied. "You weren't bad yourself either,"

Once everyone started to head back to the locker rooms, Satterfield and Williams began to converse.

"Where'd you learn to play so well?" The Major asked.

Williams shrugged. "I wouldn't say 'so well', but I used to play in school back in Canada."

Satterfield smiled.

"I'm sure your team won plenty of games then,"

Williams shook her head.

"We lost almost all of them."

Satterfield nodded. She then asked:

"How's Colonel Alexeyeva doing?"

* * *

><p>1 Week Later<p>

Infirmary, Sub-Level 21, Stargate Command

11:47 A.M

-Beep-…-Beep-

Noa sat next to the Lieutenant Colonel's bed, hoping for her commander to wake up. It's been a whole week since Natasha was shot in the chest. Doctor Lam told Williams that while the bullet was slowed down, by the soldier's vest, to the point that it only was only partly buried inside the skin, and the procedure was a success. Until the wound heals, Alexeyeva was to be in a drug induced coma. That didn't mean Noa still couldn't talk with her friend however.

–Beep-…-beep-

"Hey Colonel," Noa began, as if speaking to herself. "It's me…sorry I haven't been around to say hi or any of that…I've been kinda busy."

Noa took a deep breath before continuing.

"A lot has happened since you were…"

A sigh.

"Anyway, it's been getting hectic lately."

Noa looked back and found that no one was behind her.

Returning her view to the Russian, she continued.

"We got the guy who shot you and…well…I'm not sure what else to say. Maybe I just want to spend time by your side, I mean…you've been there for me so why can't I?"

The Russian laid there, no motion and emotionless.

–Beep-…-Beep-

Tears began to roll down the Canadian's eyes.

"Damn it…" She breathed. "Why…won't you…just wake up."

Sobbing.

Then silence.

Noa wiped her tears away and began to stand up.

"Yeah…" She mumbled to herself. "You need rest…I get it."

She placed her hand on the Colonel's shoulder and looked down.

"Get Well Soon, lady-hero."

As Williams began to walk away, a single groan could be heard behind her.

"Liya?" The voice asked.

Noa immediately turned around and ran up to the Colonel.

"Colonel, Ma'am," She replied. "It's me, Williams…how are you feeling."

"Liya?"

"Colonel?" The Russian's chest shot up.

"LIYA!" The woman screamed, her eyes now wide open.

–Beep- -Beep- -Beep- -Beep-

"DOC!" Noa yelled over her shoulder.

Doctor Lam and another medic rushed towards the bed and examined the wounded Russian.

"She's having a cardiac arrest." The Doctor replied.

"A heart attack?" Noa asked.

"Get outta here, Private," Lam added.

"But…"

"Now!"

* * *

><p>Fifteen Minutes Earlier<p>

General Carter's Office, Sub-Level 27, Stargate Command

11:32 A.M

General Kerrigan entered Carter's office with a smile.

"Morning General," He said, announcing his presence.

Sam, who was doing some paperwork, immediately shot up her head and stood up.

"General Kerrigan," She said, shaking his hand. "It's good to see you again sir."

"Like wise,"

Carter nodded before sitting back down, rubbing her forehead.

"I heard about what happened to that Russian officer you have in the infirmary." Kerrigan began the conversation in his business-as-usual voice.

Carter nodded.

"So close at coming home and yet she still has to suffer getting back."

"I've seen her in action during training," Kerrigan tried to reassure Carter.

"She can take the punishment; I can vogue for that,"

"Says the man who didn't like her."

"After the stunt she pulled with the destruction of the enemy base using a vehicle…she was lucky that she didn't kill anyone."

"By the way," Carter interrupted. "How did she end up using a vehicle anyway?"

Kerrigan shrugged.

"She got smart, I guess." He replied. "It was during Operation: Cold Play, a sort of – how should I put it – a tournament between the Colonel's team and another set of recruits that were also on-site, another set of foreign personnel I might add. The purpose of this Operation was to determine who was going to earn the bid to lead the first team from the international community."

"Not exactly what the U.N had in mind, General," Carter replied. "But what was their mission," she asked. "for Alexeyeva and her team?"

Kerrigan took a seat before Carter's desk and sighed.

"The recruits had to deliver a demolition charge into an enemy base and detonate it without any 'casualties' on their side, or at least the fewest. There were three rounds and each side would trade roles, defense and assault, after each one…it was a tie by the final round…"

* * *

><p>2 Weeks Earlier<p>

Undisclosed Stargate Command Training Grounds, Colorado

04:09 P.M

_Alexeyeva, Marlowe and Redding were kneeling behind cover as the opposing force opened fire on their position. _

"_Any ideas Ivan?" Marlowe asked, clenching onto his MP5. _

_The Russian slowly crept to the side of the barrier and peaked at the other side, only to shove herself back just before the enemy stun bullets could hit her. _

"_Three enemies firing non-stop and two others are behind heavy weaponry." She reported to the other two. _

"_You kidding me?" Redding asked. _

"_Where's that EOD kid?" Marlowe asked. _

_Alexeyeva turned her head away as an Intar bullet flew over her head. _

"_Private Williams is still preparing the explosive." Redding scoffed. "Yeah, so much for winning this round." _

_He replied, bitter at his team leader for letting them down. _

_For the previous 15 minutes, during this round in the final training assignment, Alexeyeva and her team were bogged down by several problems while trying to complete their objectives. _

_At the beginning, Williams forgotten several pieces of her equipment and had to leave the field while Redding lagged behind Marlowe and Alexeyeva with the heavy AT-4 Rocket launcher slinged over his back, causing the team to be well behind schedule. Even after completing the objectives, the team had to make their way past a no-man's-land that was controlled by the OPFOR opponents. It didn't help that the team was almost out of ammo. _

"_Yo, Ivan," Redding asked. "How many mags you got left?" _

_Alexeyeva checked through her vest and only found two magazines left. _

"_Well shit," Redding replied, sitting down next to the barrier. "We're done, aren't we?" _

_Then, as if an answer, a jeep quickly drove up to the three. _

"_Hey!" Marlowe called out, pointing at the incoming vehicle. "You see that?" _

"_Oh shit, hostile vehicle!" Redding replied, aiming his MP5. "Not good…not good!" _

_It wasn't until the three saw the driver did Alexeyeva force Redding's weapon down. _

_The driver, as it turned out, was none other than Private Williams. _

_She took off her sunglasses and smiled. _

"_Ya miss me?" She asked. _

_Under a hail of bullets, Redding made his way towards the Canadian. _

"_Crap! Get down already!" He yelled as he yanked her out of her seat just as five Intar bullets hit the windshield, shattering it into a reflective light show. _

"_Hey what the hell!" Williams yelled, shoving Redding's hand away from her. "I just came in saving your sorry asses and now your throwing me to the ground?" _

_Alexeyeva smiled. _

"_We appreciate your assistance, even if you are late…as its better late than never, nyet?" _

_Williams smiled before nodding. _

_Pointing with her thumb, Williams notified them of the team of a fresh cache of ammo she brought with her. Redding, in desperate need of ammunition, attempted to go after the cache but Alexeyeva stopped him. _

"_Why do you get to do everything Ivan?" The Sergeant asked. _

"_Wait here," The Colonel replied, handing her remaining magazines to Redding and Marlowe. _

"_On three, I want you to cover me with suppressing fire." _

"_Yeah," Marlowe replied, reloading his empty sub-machine gun. "Whatever you say Ivan," _

_Alexeyeva turned her head to Williams and asked her where ammo was. _

"_In the trunk with the device." _

"_Alright then!" Alexeyeva replied. "You remember what I need you to do Marines?" _

"_Yes ma'am," Marlowe answered. _

"_Yeah," Redding added. _

"_One!" The Colonel yelled. _

_The two marines had turned off the safeties on their weapons. _

"_Two!" _

_The bullets still came at them. _

"_Three!" _

"_Suppressing!" _

_Marlowe and Redding emerged from cover and returned fire. _

_At that very second, when their MP5s fired away, the Russian quickly dashed towards the back of the vehicle. Intar bullets followed her as she dove behind the jeep. Falling on her hands and side, Alexeyeva immediately got back on her feet. She placed one foot on the back bumper and lifted herself up, knowing her legs might get shot if the enemy decided to shoot under the vehicle. The Russian grabbed the tarp and pulled it away, revealing the ammo box and the device itself. Grabbing as many magazines as she could with one hand, while the other keeping her steady on the bumper, Alexeyeva tossed the ammo towards the two marines, who in turn scrambled from them like hungry beggars. After all the ammo was given, the Russian returned to the others, barely missing every bullet that came her way. _

"_You got balls, Ivan!" Redding commented. "I'll give you that." _

_Marlowe nodded with a smile. _

"_Whoever Stargate Command is fighting right now…those bad guys are gonna be pissing their pants." He added. _

"_Yeah well," Williams replied. "Now how the hell are we getting past the NML?" _

_The Russian thought for a moment, before eyeing the jeep behind her. _

"_Private Williams," She began. "I assume the device is ready for use, da?" _

_Williams nodded before pulling out the detonator. _

"_I still don't know how…" _

_She was cut off as Alexeyeva snatched the detonator from the Canadian's hand and darted for the driver's seat of the jeep. _

"_What the hell are you doing?" Marlowe yelled. _

_The Colonel restarted the vehicle before answering. _

"_What does it look like I'm doing, marine?" She replied. "I'm going to drive this thing right down their throats." _

_Marlowe's eyes nearly popped out. _

"_You're gonna kamikaze their asses!" _

_Alexeyeva only shrugged, then drove off. Marlowe returned his sight to the other two._

"_Come on, come on!" He yelled. "Cover the crazy bitch!" _

_Alexeyeva could only damn herself as she drove across the open area. _

_She steered left to right and then back again to avoid incoming fire, praying that she doesn't get shot then tagged out. She kept her head down for most of the advance, making sure the enemy couldn't target her. The front wheels hit a pot hole and threw the jeep forward, turning it upside down. Alexeyeva instantly bailed out of the vehicle as it began to flip over. The inertia from jumping out of a moving jeep made the Russian slide uncontrollably across the sandy ground on her belly. _

"_COLONEL!"_

_Alexeyeva could hear Williams' voice echoing in her headset. _

_Once the Russian stopped, she turned on her backside and looked at where the jeep was now located. It was upside down, but inside the facility. Sitting up, Alexeyeva noticed that the detonator was still in her hand, miraculously. She flipped the switch and won the round as well as the tournament which had secured her guaranteed leadership of the first SG team consisting of foreign personnel. Her teammates were running up to her as she began to stand up. _

"_Jesus, man!" Redding yelled. "You almost had gotten yourself six feet under you crazy…" _

"_We won, didn't we?" Alexeyeva interrupted. "We won," _

"_Yeah, maybe…" Redding replied. "But that General guy is gonna freak when he gets wind of this." _

_The four turned to face the wreckage that was created at the wake of the Russian's doing. _

"_Eh, who cares," Marlowe replied, grinning. _

_He then extended his hand to the Colonel. _

"_You're a frikin hero in my book," _

_Alexeyeva smiled, as thin lines of blood began trickling down her face. She shook hands with the Marine, and soon with the other before being embraced by the Canadian. Little did they know, of course, that the Russian would be suspended for the final week of training…pending behavioral evaluations. _

* * *

><p>Present Day<p>

General Carter's Office, Sub-Level 27, Stargate Command

11:32 A.M

The phone rang. Carter, out of reflex, picked it up.

"Carter," She spoke into the microphone.

She listened for a moment.

"What happened?" She asked, standing up.

Kerrigan couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.

"When?"

Carter listened for another moment.

"Uh-huh…understood…I'll be right there,"

'Click'

Carter sighed before placing her fingers through her hair.

"She's awake," She added.

"The Russian?" Kerrigan asked.

Carter nodded.

"Turns out she had a heart attack," She explained as the two exited the office.

"Jesus," Kerrigan breathed. "She alright?"

"Doctor Lam isn't sure what caused it…but she says that Alexeyeva is stabilized and awake."

The two entered the elevator before Carter pressed the '21' button on the panel.

The doors closed and the elevator began to ascend.

"Hopefully we can get answers from the Colonel before anything else happens." Carter added.

The two waited patiently as the elevator continued to go up.

"O'Neill will be arriving soon to check up on SG-26 in about a week…the Pentagon needs to file a report to the U.N."

Carter looked at Kerrigan with a surprised look.

"SG-26 has only been active for a little more than a week, General." She replied. "Don't you think it's a little too early?"

Kerrigan shrugged.

"Believe it or not...like it or not…26, and all subsequent teams, is U.N property not U.S Air Force or U.S government so it's not our call."

Carter looked away.

Clearly, she wasn't told about this.

The elevator doors opened and the two made their way to the infirmary. Upon entering, the two found the members of SG-1 and 26, as well as Doctor Lam, surrounding the bed that held the Russian.

"Colonel," Carter began, placing her hands on the bed's railing. "You alright?"

Alexeyeva looked away, mildly embarrassed.

"I'm quite alright, General, spaseeba."

She then turned her head to find Kerrigan standing next to Carter.

"General Kerrigan, sir," She added. "I'm surprised to see you here,"

"As much as I am to see you in this state." Kerrigan replied.

"Yeah," Mitchell added. "What the hell happened?"

The question was more directed at Lam than at Alexeyeva.

Before the doctor could answer, Alexeyeva intervened.

"Nightmare, Colonel Mitchell." She answered. "More of a bad memory, I rather should put it."

"A nightmare?" Williams asked. "About what…did it have to do with this…Liya?"

Alexeyeva looked away.

She explained to them about her operation in the nation of Georgia during her short-lived service in the Spetsnaz.

"We never got a hold of that kind of information, Colonel." Kerrigan replied. "Is it wise to share this with us?"

"Does it matter?" Alexeyeva asked. "I almost died of a Myocardial infarction today…honestly…I don't know how to respond to your question."

"Calm down, Colonel," Lam quickly added. "You need rest so I would like everyone else to leave."

There were some groans and other sounds of disappointment as some of the members wanted to speak with the Russian. Nonetheless, they cleared out.

After everyone left, Lam approached Carter and Kerrigan outside the infirmary.

"We had her sedated," She bluntly spoke out. "And yet she woke up and had a heart attack…this isn't good."

Carter sighed, shaking her head.

"She special forces…_Russian_ special forces and only god knows what they had done to her for to able to resist the sedatives she was given." She replied.

"The stress won't help her either," Lam added.

"That's not good," Kerrigan replied. "There was going to be an evaluation of SG-26 later on…and I doubt the Colonel will be fit for it, assuming the U.N would still want her to lead 26 in the immediate future."

"Then we can't have her in Stargate Command for as long as she's under this condition." Lam commented. "Now…she's stable as this moment and will be without any distractions but."

Lam paused.

"She'll have to relocate to a residence outside the facility."

Carter thought for a moment before peaking back into the infamy to catch a glimpse of how the Russian was doing.

"She can stay with me until she gets better." She finally told the two.

"Are you sure that's a good idea, Sam?" Kerrigan asked.

"It's not like you'll be there for her 24/7."

Carter nodded.

"Yeah, I'm sure…and I think she could use the rest."


	23. FamilyTeam Matters Part 1

Chapter 23: Family/Team Matters Part 1

* * *

><p>Sub-Level 20, Stargate Command<p>

10:30 P.M

Doctor Bill Lee and Sam Carter circled around the sarcophagus SG-26 had brought back from N7M-321.

For most of the entire past week, Lee found himself scratching his head, when not his chin, determining how to open the Gou'ald stasis pod. Even with Carter's help, Lee couldn't help but wonder if opening the pod would've been possible, or a good idea.

"We could try to force it open," Lee randomly suggested.

Sam shot a look at the scientist with a risen eyebrow.

"How?" She asked. "We can't even find out why this thing was where SG-26 found it."

Lee shook his head.

"Yeah, it's kinda funny," He replied. "Slavic mythology, the Gou'ald…a bit from the Ancients…"

He shrugged before continuing.

"And even with the Russian Colonel, it's beginning to be a little too coincidental."

Now it Sam's turn to shake her head.

"I doubt there is a connection," She replied. "Ok…what about scans; was there anything you found?"

Realizing what he should have done earlier, Lee immediately walked over to the computer placed next to the sarcophagus and opened a window.

"X-rays were a bust," Lee announced, looking at the scans. "Not surprising given the fact that a typical Gou'ald sarcophagus is made of solid gold."

"Anything else?" Sam asked.

"Uh," Lee looked through the others scans made. "Yes, ultrasound confirmed that someone is in fact inside."

He took a breath.

"I'm just not sure we should…you know…"

"Open it?" Sam finished his sentence.

Lee shook his head.

"And given how complicated this thing is…it might take months to even get it to work again."

Lee rested his head on his hand before coming up with an idea.

"What about the naquadah?" He asked. "How much longer would it take to drain the power source?"

Sam became confused.

"Well, I mean, come on, this thing must have been active for centuries, at least." Lee explained.

"I don't think that would open the sarcophagus." Sam commented.

"Eh, maybe you're right," Lee replied.

He was about to rest his arms on the stasis pod before Sam stopped him.

"Ah, Ah, careful there doctor," She quickly cautioned to the scientist. "We don't know if any physical contact would do something to the sarcophagus."

Lee raised his hands in defense and backed away.

"Last week, Daniel figured out that whoever is in here could lead us to the ZPM stockpile if we can convince this person to help us." Sam added.

"Convince him?" Lee asked. "How?"

"How do you know whoever is in here is male?"

"I don't," Lee replied innocently. "But maybe until we know for sure who's inside we should refer it to 'he'."

Sam smiled, crossing her arms.

"Why don't we just refer to this person as 'JC', that's a nice unisex name, don't you think?" She replied.

"I guess."

Sam looked at her watch and her eyes widened.

"Oh damn, look at the time," She commented. "I'm sure Alexeyeva is getting impatient by now."

"Why would she?" Lee asked, confused.

"I offered her a place to stay while she recovered."

"Where?"

"No where special," Sam replied, leaving the lab.

"My place." Lee didn't seem moved for he was too busy looking at the sarcophagus.

"Well good night, General," He replied.

After Sam left, Lee looked up, stunned.

"Wait…what?"

* * *

><p>Infirmary, Sub-Level 21, Stargate Command<p>

Alexeyeva looked at her reflection as she pulled down her shirt a few inches. She was unable to move with the shock and disbelief with the sight of the bandage that was on her chest. The tattoo of the Church of the Savior on Blood on her chest seemed as if it was a glass portrait that had been cracked. The Russian smiled to herself with mixed feelings however. She thought about getting her chest tattooed again but, at the same time, she wondered whether or not she should just leave it as is…she was going to have all of her tattoos removed anyway. But the loss of a particular loved one changed all that, hasn't it, as she thought in her mind.

"Colonel," Carter's voice reached the Russian's.

Alexeyeva immediately released her grip on her shirt, which had unstretched and covered her chest once again.

"Da, General," The Colonel replied. "Are you ready to go?"

Carter nodded.

Grabbing her bags, Alexeyeva followed the General towards the elevator. Once they arrived, Carter pressed the 'up' button and the two waited.

"Thank you again for inviting me to stay at your home," Alexeyeva began. "But you didn't have to."

Carter looked at the Russian and smiled.

"I couldn't just leave you there, Colonel," She replied. "Besides, I thought you wanted to get a chance to live off base."

The Russian smiled.

"Da…sometimes I thought about taking a day off to visit Colorado Springs,"

Her smiled faded.

"I didn't think I would have been allowed to."

"My treat," Carter replied, smiling. Just as the elevator doors retracted open, Williams came rushing down the hall. "Colonel," She began. She bent over, panting for breath. "Da, Private Williams," The Russian asked, approaching the Canadian. Williams brought her upper body back and stretched out her hand. "Just wanted to say good-bye," The Russian nodded and shook hands with her subordinate. "I'll be back," She told her. The two let go and the Russian rejoined the General in the elevator.

* * *

><p>1 Hour Later…<p>

Samantha Carter's residence

11:44 P.M

Natasha's eyes nearly closed shut and the solider nearly drifted into sleep.

She heard a click as Sam turned the key to her house in the keyhole and immediately snapped back into alertness. The two entered the house and Sam turned on the light. Natasha found herself in a somewhat messy room. Numerous books were on the coffee table before a couch. Papers were on dining table with a sink full of dirty dishes. The Spetsnaz Operative noted that it was quite clear that the General spent little time at home.

"Sorry about the mess," Sam apologized. "I haven't been able to get the time to clean house."

"It's not a problem," Natasha replied. "I've handled worse places than this,"

Then she tripped over a stack of books as she tried to walk.

"Chyort!" She yelled with her face on the floor.

"Crap, sorry," Sam replied, helping the Russian get back up on her feet.

"Forget everything I just said," Natasha replied, laughing as she returned to her feet. "How in god's name do you live in this place?"

Sam could only shrug, which made Natasha chuckle more.

"Forget I asked then." The Russian added.

As Natasha settled in, or at least tried to, Sam headed for the kitchen. After placing her keys and purse on the kitchen table, she noticed from the blinking red light on her answering machine that she had a message waiting for her. After pressing the button, the machine began playing back.

"_You have one new message; message recorded at 5:23 P.M; message begins: "Hey Aunt Sam, it's me."_ A young woman's voice began.

Sam, who was tending to the fridge, looking for something to feed the Russian with, immediately forgotten this task and quickly ran to the machine.

She recognized the voice.

It was Cassandra, a girl Sam and SG-1 rescued from another world, fifteen years earlier.

"_I'm just calling you that I'll be passing through Colorado Springs in a couple of days and I was hoping to stop by and see how things are and maybe catch up. I mean, it's been years since we last spoke and it's not like you write ha."_

There was a pause as Sam continued to listen.

"_I've got a lot to tell you and I wish I could go back to the SGC, you know, for old time's sake. But anyway, I gotta continue driving, see you soon, later."_

–Click–

"_End of new messages…Beeeeep."_

Carter seemed as if she were about to cry.

It's been years since she had actually spoken with the girl she brought back through the gate. Only once, after Doctor Frasier, Cassandra's step-mother, died, Sam was forced to tell the grave news to her. She hasn't seen her since.

"Who was that?" Natasha asked, indifferently, as she began to unpack in the living room.

Sam shook her head as she still stared down at the machine.

"I hate to ask you this, so you can say no," She replied. "But think you can help me clean the house?"

The Russian had to laugh.

"I get shot and the first thing my commanding officer asks me to do is help her clean her house?" She asked.

Sam was now feeling guilty. She knew it was wrong to ask her guest, but since her 'step-niece' was coming, there was no alternative left.

"But if that means this house becomes livable much sooner," Natasha added. "Then absolutely I'll help you. Just not tonight."

* * *

><p>The Next Morning<p>

Sam Carter's Residence

06:30 A.M

-Beep-…-beep-…-beep-….

Sam was abruptly awoken in her bed by the alarm clock's beeping. Slamming her fingers against the snooze button, Sam rubbed her eyes and nearly fell back asleep when the alarm started beeping again. Now the General began to wonder if her clock was broken, as the snooze button was supposed to let her sleep for another nine minutes. It doesn't matter. Sam sat herself up on the bed and she slowly slipped off.

She took a shower, brushed her teeth, dressed in appropriate clothing and went to the kitchen to have a light breakfast.

As she opened her fridge in the kitchen, Sam couldn't help but steal a glance at the Russian sleeping on her couch in the next room. Sam took out a jug of milk from the fridge and a box of cereal and a bowl from the cupboard. After making herself cereal, Sam ate. After finishing, she quietly placed the empty bowl in the sink and the milk and cereal box back to their respective places.

She found a pencil in a drawer and took a piece of paper lying about. Within a few seconds, Sam wrote a brief note. After grabbing her bag on the way out, Sam glanced at the Natasha. She was sleeping soundly, if not peacefully, in a fetal position, facing the back of the couch and holding onto a pillow on her chest. Just before Sam could turn her head and go for the door, she noticed a small hint of something shiny. A closer examination showed that it was a knife. It wasn't one of the Russian's, that's for sure. Natasha hadn't brought any and even if she did, security would have found them. She must have decided to steal one of Sam's kitchen knifes for use of self-defense. Smart lady. Sam thought about taking the knife back, but she didn't want Natasha to freak out and accidentally stab her. So with a shrug, the General left for work, knowing that the Russian could take care of her self.

* * *

><p>2 Hours Later<p>

Mess Hall, Stargate Command

8:45 P.M

The three remaining members of SG-26 sat at their table, eating breakfast in silence.

None of them, especially Major Witkowski, were sure of who was going to be taking over the team in the Colonel's absence. Unlike most second-in-commands, Witkowski actually had trouble getting used getting to new Cos that he was assigned to. Yet somehow he found himself used to working under a Russian. It wasn't until half an hour earlier, he had found out that there was no replacement; he would be taking command. It was now just the three of them for awhile.

"Any idea what they're gonna have us do?" Ortega asked.

Witkowski shrugged.

"Hopefully just patrol missions for now," He replied, before looking to his left to find Williams.

"Don't be so down on yourself," He told her. "It wasn't your fault that she got one in the chest."

He paused, eyeing the Private's emotions.

"It's not like you saw it coming."

'Thud'

Williams dropped her head on the table, shaking her head against the surface.

"In my profession," She replied. "That's _exactly_ what I gotta do."

She turned her head to face the major.

"When I put on the suit, I roll the dice with the lives of myself and the guys who are watching my back." She took a breath.

'Crunch'

'Crunch'

The Major shot a look at the Spaniard, who was eating his toasted bread. The Major made a 'what the hell are you doing?' look and the Sergeant took notice.

"What?" He replied innocently. "I'm hungry."

The Major shook his head and allowed the Canadian to continue.

"As I was saying, I gotta know if the bomb is a fake or decoy; does it have a timer or a remote detonator; who's watching and who isn't; is it rigged to blow on contact or better yet; what if the place has got a minefield protecting the IED…"

Neither the Major nor the Sergeant could reply.

"I should have noticed that the guy wasn't dead and that he might have followed us through…which he did." Williams added. "It's my job to see things coming. That the job of an EOD specialist."

Witkowski shrugged. "Point taken Private," He replied.

Ortega could only nod as he continued to eat.

"How do you handle the pressure?" He asked.

Williams thought for a moment at how to respond.

"I didn't have to at first," She replied. "Because I wasn't always the one in the suit…but when I was…I…"

She trailed off, unsure of the words she wanted to say.

The hesitation deterred Ortega away from the question and it was quickly dropped.

"I'm sure she's fine, amiga," The Spaniard said, changing the subject. "The General's taking care of her,"

The Private rose her head up and crossed her arms.

"Yeah," She replied coldly. "Maybe."

"And about that," Witkowski added. "Why the hell would Carter give the Colonel such treatment…it's not like Alexeyeva is anything special."

"She isn't, it's her current condition that warrants the relocation."

It was General Carter.

The three quickly stood up to salute.

"At ease and as you were," Carter told them.

The three nodded and sat back down.

"How is the Colonel doing?" Williams asked.

"She's fine, I think," Carter replied, sitting down with the team.

Witkowski raised an eyebrow, confused.

"When I left, I found her sleeping with one of my kitchen knives."

Ortega grinned. "She's Spetsnaz," He commented. "Of course she sleeps with something under her pillow."

"More like cuddling with the thing," Carter replied.

"Uh…oookaay." Ortega replied. "That isn't loco whatsoever,"

Williams chuckled quietly.

"Yeah, maybe," She added.

Carter smiled.

She knew that the team was trying to distract themselves from having to worry about their CO, which was why she decided to suspend them of further missions.

"But we're fine with just the three of us," Witkowski replied.

Carter shook her head.

"I understand you want to get back out there but without the Colonel, but sending you out there into possible combat is a violation of what the SGC had agreed to with the U.N."

"To hell with the U.N," Witkowski retorted. "We can handle it."

"Then can I at least post you on security detail if you insist to go off world so bad?" Carter asked.

The Major sighed.

"Sure, why not." He replied.

"Good," The General added. "Because if that's the case, I'll be sending you to the Alpha site,"

"Better there than here," Ortega commented.

Carter smiled again.

What she didn't tell them, of course, was that she didn't want them knowing about the fact that they would have to testify for justification of the existence of the ten new SG teams. They had enough to worry about without it.

* * *

><p>10 Minutes Later…<p>

Williams went through her desk in her quarters, looking for anything she might want to bring with her off-world. Since she wasn't to see any action, Williams thought she would bring a book or her MP3. No use in leaving anything behind.

She found her I-Pod but not a book. When she turned her head to face her bed, however, she found her copy of War and Peace lying on the pillow.

Williams walked over and methodically picked up the book. Taking one look at the cover, Williams immediately thought back to the Colonel. With a scoff, Williams walked over to the garbage bin and dropped the book inside.

Williams then grabbed her vest and gear and left the room without a second thought.

* * *

><p>Gate Room, Stargate Command<p>

Witkowski checked his Arctic Warfare rifle before he slinged it over his back. The gate behind him began to spin, dialing the address for the Alpha Site. Ortega stretched his neck before resting his hands in his vest.

"Guard duty…" He mumbled.

"_Chevron 1 engaged,"_

"A de mierda job if you ask me,"

"No one asked you Sarge," Williams retorted.

"Whoa," Witkowski replied, surprised. "Where did that come from?"

"_Chevron 2 engaged,"_

"Sorry Major," Williams answered sheeply.

The Major chuckled.

"That's not what I meant." He said. "I'm just curious at where your aggressiveness came from,"

"_Chevron 3 engaged," _

Williams looked away as her cheeks got red hot.

"Just trying to accept that the Colonel won't be around for a while, so yeah, I'm pissed,"

"Too right," Witkowski replied, turning to the gate. "I'll also have to get used to it,"

"_Chevron 4 engaged," _

"I just hope that bloody sarcophagus was worth the price we paid,"

* * *

><p>5 Minutes Later…<p>

Alpha Site, P4X-650

"SG-26, Colonel Pierce," The Commanding Officer of the Alpha Site said as he shook hands with the arriving Major.

"Major Witkowski, sir," The Englishman replied.

The two men let go as the other two members emerged from the portal. The Stargate then shut down.

"I heard about what happened to your CO, Major." Pierce said to the Second-in-Command. "I'm sorry,"

"She isn't dead yet," Witkowski replied. "There is nothing to be sorry about, sir."

"Understood, Major," Pierce added. "I'll show you to your quarters,"

He then led the way.

"I don't know why the General would transfer you here," Pierce added a few moments later. "To be honest, there isn't much to do."

"A Replicator set foot on this base with promise and turned out to be a pain in everyone's collective colillas, sir," Ortega commented back.

Pierce could only shrug. "Well it's not everyday so it's nothing to be concerned about." He replied.

"Where are we going to be staying, Colonel Pierce," Williams asked.

"Right this way," The Colonel replied, leading the team to their new rooms.

* * *

><p>Samantha Carter's Residence, Earth<p>

Natasha had to wonder.

Her eyes opened abruptly and yet she couldn't move. Maybe it was the lack of blood in her legs, given her position, or perhaps it could just be the stress she was under.

What she truly wondered about, was how she messed so bad at being a mother. Once the blood circulated into her legs, she sat up.

She looked at the knife she still had in her left hand.

There was blood.

Natasha cursed under her breath when she realized that she messed up again. Examining herself, as well as the couch, she found an extremely small pool of red on the seat where her right arm laid. She must have accidentally cut herself in her sleep. Even Spetsnaz training couldn't cover that kind of basic, at least she didn't learn it. The pain set in once the Russian became alert again, the last thing she needed. Covering the wound with her free hand, Natasha headed over to the kitchen.

"She better have bandages," She mumbled in Russian.

After nearly tripping twice over the some of the things that were on the floor, the Russian reached the kitchen and began to look for something to cover the cut. She found several bandages and wrapped them around her wound.

"I hope that Samantha won't mind I took her a few band-aids from her First-Aid Kit,"

Then she paused with a smile.

"Or that I just referred to a General, my current superior officer, by her first name…ya takoĭ durak," 'I'm such an idiot'.

She let out a quiet laugh before smacking herself on the forehead.

After she cleaned herself up, Natasha undressed on her way to the bathroom. She wasn't really going to be the defying force in the house at that moment; it was better to go with the flow for now. Stepping into the tub with a showerhead overlooking her, the Russian turned on the faucet and allowed only cold water to strike her. A sort of self-punishment for what she has done…or at least what she failed to do.

Natasha sat down at the back of the tub and curled herself up. She then cursed loudly. She had forgotten that she just placed a fresh bandage over her would and now it would be ruined. She really thought she was an idiot.

With that matter out of her reach, she placed her head into her arms and cried.


End file.
